Baskadia

Being his only daughter,I thought of writting a little bit for him…

My beloved father,Suleman Shah Afridi who belonged from a tribal area Tirah(located in the southern part of Khyber District),He was born on 25 October,1946(he always used to say”Pakistan joredo na yo kol pehla paida shawai wam”which means “I was born a year before the creation of Pakistan”.He did his college studies from Islamia College Peshawar and later on worked in different ministries .He was the eldest brother and actually had the responsibility of taking care of his younger siblings which included two brothers and two sisters.He never hesitated from his responsibilities.He loved taking care of others.Because he was an afridi,he was quick to anger.His hobbies included planting,cleaning his car on the weekends,reading newspapers and always advising me to read them too,he was so fond of plants that would stay outside all the day taking care of them and talking to them,his plants were just like his children,who actually replied to baba,he loved sports,and If I am playing badminton well today, it is all because of my father,he loved watching football matches and was a great supporter of Imran Khan.He was social.His conversational style was so good that everyone enjoyed sitting and chatting with him.He loved listening to pashto songs while drinking his mug of tea.He was full of love,encouragement,honesty and kindness.Sometimes while talking we both laughed so much that tears started to fall from our eyes because of laughter.He never cared about money,He was down to earth and humble.My beloved baba had the best humour.We both were like two best friends sitting laughing with eachother on random things.His favourite colour was maroon.He was the best example of a son,a father,a husband and a friend.Baba was a very punctual man,he always said “it’s better to be early than being late”.For me,my baba was the most handsome man in this whole world.Whenever he wore grey shalwar kameez with his peshawari chappal and ,he would look so perfect.Every night I sit and recall all those memories with him and i try to write them,but everytime i write i feel like my words are not enough.Baba had a very tough life,he always used to say to me that shumyal “No one is born with a golden spoon in their mouth,it is you who has to make the golden spoon for yourself”.In the summer evenings we both used to play football,while playing he always used to tell me about his school life and how he would ride a bicycle and reach there even in the coldest mornings,He always wanted this daughter to be strong and confident.He wanted Shumyal to become the shadow of Suleman.I used to be very happy on the day when it was my baba’s turn to pick me up from school because he took my heavy bag off my shoulders,buy me ice cream and talk about how my day was on way back.Baba was very conscious about his health,his fitness was his first priority and he was always concerned about my health also.Till 2019,he never got sick,until 2020 came to change my life completely.Baba took covid as a joke,he was never serious about taking the safety measures and because of that his covid-19 test resulted positive.He was hospitalised in HMC Peshawar for 21 days,i always used to sleep with baba because he used to stroke my hair and I would fall asleep,for those 21 days i slept without my parents,i would eat without them,there was no football, my baba was not around me,i just waited for my mother to video call me so that i can talk to him and as soon as i saw him with that oxygen mask and drips and those red sleepy eyes,i would start crying,everyday i would pray to Allah to take everything from me but give me my baba back because he was so precious to me but i guess Allah had other plans.On July 13,2023 i got a chance to meet my baba again but this time with his eyes closed. He was close to me like no other person,

kehty hain na “betiyan apne baap ki bohat ladli hoti hain,to bas mai bhe apne baba ki bohat ladli thi”Allah unko jannat mai ala makam de ameen sum ameen

baba,I love you always and forever.Your daughter misses you alot,we’ll meet soon🫶🏻