Family & Social Child Developement

This week we are celebrating Dads as Father’s Day is around the corner. Today’s blog is a beautiful ode to “Fatherhood” By Shashank Shekhar, as he pens down his experience as a father to two girls.

Parenthood is a wonderful experience that can’t be expressed in words as it is an abstract feeling which can be realized and experienced in the true sense only when one becomes a parent and lives the moment on their own. Parenthood is further subdivided into two parts as  Fatherhood and Motherhood. Being a father, I know for a fact, I can’t completely fathom the parenthood experience that one goes through, as a mother. I don’t think I will ever fully understand the sacrifices a mother makes or the struggles she experiences. Motherhood is something out of this world. Despite my best attempts or even by that of any Artificial Intelligence of Deep Learning Technologies, I doubt we’d be able to reasonably explain or analyse the experience of a mother. But being a father, I can definitely make an attempt to share the moments I cherish and treasure in my journey of Fatherhood.

I would like to share my personal experience of becoming a father, not just once but twice to two lovely angels. The experience of becoming a dad is a feeling which brings about a lot of changes in you, both as a member of your family and also as a responsible member of society at large. It brings maturity, responsibility and the ability to understand relationships in a better way. Fatherhood significantly reduces if not completely eliminates a lot of the negative aspects of your personality like ego, anger, impatience, etc. Your child’s first smile, their infectious giggle, the first time they crawl or how they hold your finger are precious moments that bring you everlasting happiness and joy. Becoming a father brings in a new dimension in life. Personally, it helped me better understand some parts of my own childhood.  It felt like a recap of my own childhood and I couldn’t help but often compare myself as a father to how my own dad was in this role and the relationship I had with my father to the one I have with my children. It would be reasonable to say that your entire lifestyle and habits change according to the preference of your child as they are going to be the most important members of your life from that moment onwards.

Although for the same deeds, our parents might have given us a good beating when we were kids when it comes to their grandchildren, our parents see these same deeds as “nuances and simply the nature of children”. I felt this all too closely and wished I could return to my childhood just to enjoy this freedom and luxury. My elder daughter who is going to turn 11  this August almost dictates terms like she is my mother, making sure she’s clear about what and how certain things must be done around the house. She is emotionally strong and beams with care and affection if she ever sees her papa is tensed or unwell. This is why I’ve come to the firm conclusion that a daughter is like a man’s second mother  Sometimes I feel like she is a reincarnation of my mother who I lost almost 13 years ago. My younger daughter just turned 3, last month. She is my little princess and is very attached to her mother.  Being the youngest in the family she is pampered and showered with love by everyone in the family. She has her mother, sister and me, all wrapped around her little finger. She knows exactly who to approach, how and when to get her job done.

From my experience of being a dad, here’s what I can conclude. Marriage and finding a life partner give you direction in life but experiencing fatherhood gives you reason. After becoming a father, all my planning and organising has been centred around activities for my family and fulfilling their dreams and wishes, especially that of my children.

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