Tuesday, November 21, 2006

A beautiful story :o) Part 1

Dad was born on 3rd December 1949 in Nairobi, Kenya to Amar Singh Sembi and Rattan Kaur Sembi. His father passed away when Dad was only 12. Incidentally, his father passed away on 18th July 1961, and my father departed on 18th July 2005.

Dad spent most of his life in Nairobi Kenya, where he grew up with his mother, brother and two sisters. He moved to Manchester, England in his younger days to do a degree in Civil Engineering, after which he moved back to Kenya to pursue a career in this field. He then moved to England permanently in 1997, leaving behind his own business just so he can secure a future for his children.
Isn't it amazing how much he sacrificed just so his kids could have a stable future?! It is ever so impossible to describe the amount of love and dedication he had for the two of us. There is still such a bountiful supply of his love emanating from every single object, thought and feeling associated with him.

From a very young age, he has had a keen interest in classical Indian music. He himself has played the violin and the clarinet. He learnt the violin from Sital Singh Sitara, a well known teacher in Kenya and UK. Amazingly Sitara Ji is blind, yet a master at many instruments and saw potential in my dad.
Dad has a huge record collection of all the maestros of Indian Raag. Had a particular interest in raag kirtan and made many visits to various gurdwaras around the country so as to listen to them live. He has encouraged and inspired me from a very young age to learn this classical form of Indian music. I am currently learning sitar.
Dad was a huge fan of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and was well known for it.

While in UK, dad developed an interest in Ayurvedic Medicine. He took the difficult decision of starting from the beginning and going back to university, where he spend three years completing a degree in Ayurvedic Medicine at Thames Valley University under the tutelage of Mr Gopi Warrier, from the Ayurvedic Company of Great Britain. He was a hard working student and made impressive progress in his studies. This was due to his genuine interest and passion in learning this ancient form of healing. He even spent a substantial amount of time in India to learn more about this form of medicine. I believe dad had a real talent in healing people and making them truly happy. He was willing to dedicate his life to healing people, and was always genuinely happy to see people walk away feeling better due to his healing talent. I often heard him say how happy he was seeing his patients improve in health. He would often change his personal agenda to accommodate those of his patients.

stay tuned for more exiting tales of the amazing journey of the DAD......!!

1 comment:

Jatlee said...

Imagine me and your dad jamming now! well theres nothing stopping us! Raag is more than a physical body! its a soul! AKAAAAL!