They knew him far and wide as the provider, the adult in the room, the breadwinner.
He was the father of children, but they called him Mister Pathak,
for Aashish P had no first name.

“I will be spoken to with respect,” he thundered,
“or not spoken to at all.”
The youth cowered in his presence, and shuddered at his call.
When he spoke to them, they said, “Yes, Mister Pathak,”
and moved along quickly, for it became clear that further communication
was going to be kind of a bummer.

“Yes, run along, younglings!” Aashish would laugh, “Go about your business,
knowing that you have provided due honor to your elders.” Aashish smiled,
and then went back to his computer to do whatever adult things he did.

The children, out of earshot, returned to their pop rocks and cocaine
and no one was ever any the wiser.

Aashish Pathak maintained his hallowed reputation as the man with no first name,
until the kids became legal adults, when they didn’t call him anything anymore.

There is a moral to this story, and it should be clear to any
who has been paying attention:
pop rocks and cocaine are very fizzy.