A Woman In Man's World

I was born a woman in a man’s world. But for him, I was not an ordinary woman… I was different.
That day when I opened my eyes, his was the first, or perhaps the second, face – I don’t exactly remember – that flashed in front of my eyes. For him, it was love at first sight and the moment he held me in his arms, he gave away his heart to me. I was in such a trance-like state that I could not fathom what was happening around me. But as the time passed, his pure, holy love for me, melted my heart.
Within no time, I became his sweetheart, his life. Even the love of his life, his beautiful wife, could not match the spell that I cast on him. Seeing the intensity of his love for me, she never dared to step into our privacy.
As years went by, his love for me kept on changing forms. Sometimes he was my friend, at others he was my mentor, my idol. He helped me solve all my “problems”, but most of our time together was spent fighting over silly things. Not even a single peaceful day passed among the two of us. But his love for me endured it all. And I became the centre of his life as he my lifeline.
One day when he had to go out of the town for some work, I fell ill. No medicine could bring my rising temperature down. Everybody around me was tense, thinking what to do. Two days later, when he came back to me, he did the magic. It seemed that seeing him around was enough for my fever to subside and I instantly became as playful as ever. This was the intensity of our love.
He was my first love, the first man of my life – my father, and I was his Nikki – which in Punjabi means little – his little princess. Though this name vanished along with him, but his love in my heart will always keep me going. Love you papa!