Skip to main content

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all fathers.

Its the day to remember the sacrifices you have made and the sweat you have put in to raise your children. I mean just look at you - working day and night, often against your will, submerging your desires to bring in finances, giving up your dreams to cherish the dreams of your children, why you deserve a big thank you!!

Today, things are even tougher for you. You have to figure out mind-boggling decisions - how much freedom to give your kids, how much to indulge them? The toughest nut to crack is how to instill good values and discipline in their minds without being preachy. Poor dad - how does he remain a figure his kids can look up to, yet not be intimidated by? Children today are miles ahead of you, you cannot demand their respect on account of position alone, you have to earn it.

The traditional roles of the father as the provider, and the lord and master of the house have undergone massive transformation. Also the father may not be the sole breadwinner anymore. A stay-at-home father has it twice harder to win over the confidence of his children. Societal norms are changing faster than you can blink. Today, you have to be a friend, but not someone your children can walk over. A confidant, a role-model, a protector, a counselor. All conflicting, contradicting roles.

To top it all, your kids will just leave you one fine morning to carry on with their lives. Then you are left with your empty nest, clutching memories of busier days left behind. Only look forward to an occasional meeting with them, when their busy schedule permits. Overnight the roles change, and you become the dependent one.

Tough times ahead for fathers, but we know our men will rise up to it. All the best fathers!!! 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Guru Dutt - Legacy of an Overlooked Genius

"Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaae to Kya Hai:" This heartfelt anguish was literally personified by film maker and actor extraordinaire - Guru Dutt, whose birth centenary happens to be tomorrow (July 9).  Maestro or Failed Genius? All his life, he strove to depict his vision, his dreams on celluloid. Yet, even as he strove for success, for renown, he was a bit of a recluse, a black sheep himself. It was as if he wanted to challenge the language of popular cinema by being within the format, from the inside. His women had brains, taxi drivers and masseurs were philosophers, sex workers pined for spiritual ecstasy, and friendships blossomed between unlikely people. Common people on the street spoke wiser logic than academics or high-nosed editors. The topics of the films may seem dated now, but the eternal truths voiced in them remain relevant.   His films were distinctly different from other popular Hindi films. They had all the commercial elements of song, dance, comedy, romanc...
Post a Comment
Read more

Does Mother Mary Really Come? You bet!

Prolific writer-activist-thinker Arundhati Roy's memoir, an ode to her mother's formidable personality, is cleverly titled, Mother Mary Comes to Me. Below the title is a picture of young Roy nonchalantly smoking a bidi. Irreverence, thy name is Arundhati Roy! At 372 pages, it is a tome, a sweeping saga that recollects both her mother's remarkable life, as well as her own. Is it a Memoir? Yes and no. Though the book title refers to their mother-daughter relationship, the book - at several junctures treats each one of them as independent and exclusive from one another. In fact, for a good part, her mother finds no mention at all, and the reader is engrossed reading about Roy's exploits and struggles through Architecture College, early attempts to find her vocation and calling, her dabbling with cinema, acting, scriptwriting; her romantic liaisons with the luscious JC, Sanjay, Pradeep et al. A life as extraordinary and unapologetic as Arundhati's mesmerizes in itself. ...
1 comment
Read more

Book review - The Stationery Shop of Tehran

Iranian writer, Marjan Kamali's The Stationery Shop of Tehran is a remarkable and touching book. Like all literature set in countries with a deeply troubled history, this book too revolves around disillusionment, pain and the desperate struggle to live a normal life.  Akin to Khalid Hosseini, Kamali intertwines the political in the personal lives of her protagonists. Class struggle also plays a major role, like education or the lack of it. The story spans over six decades and two continents, starting from 1953 Iran to New England, US in early 2013. Love lost, Lives Shattered Young lovers, Roya and Bahman try to hold on to their love in the face of all pettiness and politics, but the aftermath of trauma runs too deep.  Just as their country plunges into another political upheaval, their lives are shattered and they are thrown apart.  Yet, Kamali makes her story deeply human and optimistic. Her lovers are genuinely good human beings, kind, forgiving and full of empathy. In...
Post a Comment
Read more