Liyth Al Siyabi
COM 1101
Who Is My Father
I admire a lot of people, but the person I admire the most is my father. Many people claim that
perfect fathers are non-existent. I doubt that, because in my eyes, I see my father as a perfect
man from head to toe. Everything about him is special; his outfit, behavior and even his way of
speech is distinct from anybody I know.
At the first sight, you could see that my father is a bit short, but as a kid, I saw him as the tallest
man in the world. He has a tanned, oval face with a light moustache. I used to see him shave his
beard all the time, but nowadays he is starting to grow a locked goatee on his chin. As an elegant
gentleman; his short and grey hair was neatly-combed all the time. Even though he is in his midforties, his body still retains some of the remnants of his military training in the 1990s.
Wearing the Omani “Dishdasha” – A long white robe worn by men in Oman – and “Kuma” – A
hand crafted cap worn with the Dishdasha – , he is and always will be a classic man bounded to
the customs and traditions of his ancestors. When he passes by, you can smell the odor of
“Bukhoor” – Traditional chips or bricks of a tree, burned to release a special smell – from him, it
was not just an ordinary perfume, but a sweet fragrance of healing and culture.
One thing I can say for sure that my dad’s personality; is that he is a man of secrets. Most
parents chit chat with their kids at a family gathering about the things they have done when they
were young , but in my father’s case it’s totally different. He won’t tell you anything until you
ask him about it, and unfortunately, it doesn’t work all the time. I remember asking him once
about an old wound in his elbow, and he refused to tell me the story behind it! Therefore, I had to
take my grandmother's help to find out why. He is a straightforward man with no coddling. If
there is something wrong with anything , he will just say it then and there, striking the iron while
Liyth Al Siyabi
COM 1101
its hot , trying to keep his comment as simple and honest as he can; so people don’t consider his
criticism impolite. He always have been a serious man who rarely joked, but when he did, you
wouldn’t stop laughing.
Maybe my father cannot be considered as an example for an ideal dad, but in my opinion, I think
that his flaws cause him to be paradoxically perfect.