One of the many cult film dialogues Big B made famous in his baritone was ‘ Rishte mein toh hum tumhare baap laagte hain, naam hai …’ but taken in another context, do the names of the fathers of our icons and legends ring a bell ? Most of them remain unsung heroes ( we seem to have so many of them in our country ! ) staying away from the limelight but ever the pillar of support to their sons and daughters against years of social repression, adversities, economic roadblocks and being always around when the making of a champion was in progress !
Talking of women achievers – super-sportswomen Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Mithali Raj and the latest sensation in cricket, Harmanpreet Kaur have all credited their fathers for their huge success yet we would hardly recall their names. !). There have been women luminaries in the fields like banking and finance – Arundhati Bhattarcharya (SBI), Chanda Kochar (ICICI), Naina Lal Kidwai (HSBC) and many others but few would be familiar with the names of their inspirational parents ! It’s easier quizzing on actors Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt or veteran Shabana Azmi because their father’s are legends in their own right (there are many famous star sons and daughters too !).
Amir Khan in “Dangal” immortalized the role of the father figure ‘Mahavir Singh Phogat’ fighting against a patriarchal system to make champions, his two daughters in the male dominated wrestling sport, which was a tribute to the man’s great sacrifice and vision. Yet there would be few takers of scripts which tell stories of these unsung heroes. But why talk of icons alone, fathers have been role models and path-finders for today’s average girl in the massive transformation that is taking place in society as women dauntlessly compete in every sphere.
Back in the 70s, I remember a lady friend who had qualified in the IAS doing some plain-speaking – ‘I had to get through the exam, if only to justify my father’s faith in my abilities’. Today, there are success stories of women charting unknown territories with parents right behind them.
But the real story close to my heart is that of a father who went ahead with his favourite daughter’s dream to pursue a career overseas. In the 70s, other than scholarships, there was no easy financial support for studying abroad and relatives in US to fall back upon as they’re today –yet they went ahead. The girl is now a senior, distinguished professor of Masscom in New York living her dream and that man was my Father !
Working on Living 