In this era and age, they don’t have too many people as their cheer leaders, having been overshadowed by their versatile better halves, turned ‘Mater’s Incomparable’. However, of late, the less heard Dads and Fathers are making a remarkable comeback of sorts. They are being publicly hailed as ‘heroes’ by none other than their illustrious sons and daughters who’ve made a mark in their lives.
On the landmark day as Indian off-spin wizard, Ashwin achieved the huge milestone of 500 Test wickets, he dedicated the achievement to his Dad, Ravi Chandran for being his driving force. And just a little earlier, a sublimely gifted batter from Mumbai, Sarfaraz was making his debut in Test Cricket (against England) and emotional pics of his Father hugging his son, realizing his long cherished dream, got splashed all over social media ! Yet another big super-star on the Indian Cricket scene, Shubman Gill, spoke about his father’s contribution to his growth and success in a recent post match interview.
It’s not just in Cricket, that the Dads have earned a good name for themselves. On prime time TV news, great Ustad Zakir Husain, fresh from winning the Grammy Awards, paid rich tributes to Father, table maestro, Allah Rakha, along with many other legends of the rich Indian classical music tradition. Celebrated Bollywood icon Big B, never misses a chance to recite Father, Harivansh Rai Bachan ji’s poems. A budding actor, Baabil is desperately trying to fill the giant shoes of his late Dad, superb actor, Irfan Khan.
Also, it’s not only the rich and famous have had Dads who deserved high praise, though many have been responsible for pushing their prodigies to greatness. One of my friends had confided that she’d appeared and cracked the UPSC exams (IAS) only to appease her Father. My brother (cousin) aced in Badminton and played for his State, but after hours of backbreaking practice on courts. In fact, all families have their ‘Daddy’ stories !
Quintessentially, the Dads come in various types and shades, as do all species, but have certain common features. They seem preoccupied, eternally busy with work and office calls, tend to forget birthdays of important people, don’t have great dress sense, make embarrassing faux pas, cannot haggle with vendors and are rarely emotional enough. In a kind of nature’s balance, redoubtable Mothers & Moms make up for these deficiencies.
Despite their faults, Dads who aren’t known to get along famously with their sons (who prefer to be different and upbeat), are favorites with daughters for their unflappable coolness quotient, utter generosity and ability to overlook minor shortcomings in others. Moms may feel that’s ‘sparing the rod and spoiling..’ but Dads of today are not only liberally patient and can accept they too were ‘wild’ in their youth ! Much has been said, Dads are rocks, guides, inspiration. So it’s easy to be a Father, but difficult to be a Dad !
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