“He promised me that everything would be okay. I was a child, but I knew that everything would not be okay. That did not make my father a liar. It made him my father.”
-Jonathan Safran Foer
Father!
A Father is a teacher who doesn’t keep us from making mistakes but lets us find our own way. He builds within us the courage to witness and combat all the atrocities of life with the correct approach. He is a strong shield which guards us from rough winds. He holds our fingers and guides us to tread. He lets us try all, but picks us when we fall. His strictness cultivates discipline and constructs our indomitable spirit. He doesn’t express much but his ecstasy lies in our victory and our commitment is his pride.
We leave no occasion to ornament mothers by adoring their love and care but fathers always take a backseat in this regard. However, if a mother is an apostle of love and sacrifice, a Father is also a mentor, an inspiration, a teacher, an abode of love, care, protection, a Mother in disguise and such a benign, selfless and fantastic creation of God deserves a beautiful present on this Father’s Day.
While doing Father’s Day preparation, I came across my younger brother who stood in front of a big A3 size poster hanging on the wall of our living room. When I asked him what he was up to, he said something so incredible which left me dumbstruck. He said, “I am wishing Father’s Day to Bapu. Our teacher taught us that Bapu is known as the Father of our Nation”; by saying so, he shot up a medley of thoughts in my cerebrum and led me to think in an all new direction.
How being an Indian can we forget to recall the greatest father ever, the greatest of all- Mahatma Gandhi –‘Bapu’? His greatness and love for India is inexplicable. He is the finest epitome of dedication, devotion and sacrifice for this nation thereby earning the title- ‘Father of Nation’. And as every child presents a unique, special gift to their fathers on Father’s Day, what can we think of gifting to our eternal father, the Father of our Nation.
When a child grows up, the father entrusts him with his most valuable asset and it is the moral responsibility of a child to safeguard and nurture that asset and thereby cherish the spirit of his father. Bapu also entrusted us with his most valuable asset- INDIA, the Golden Bird, with faith in us to nurture it and take it to huge heights keeping its sanctity intact. Today having nurtured this asset, let us present to him the same INCREDIBLE INDIA, The India of his dreams.
Oh! But, there sounds some problem. The golden thoughts, golden words written above all seem to be so hypocritical when we actually wake up from trance to witness the reality, the Real India.
There is no doubt, India is heading towards success. Post independence, it has never looked back and has made glorious development on stage. But, the dark truth behind the curtain is horrendous.
Mahatma Gandhi taught us and left us with eternal lessons containing volumes about peace, truth and fraternity with a belief that we will climb the hills with these ideals instilled within our core.
But have we actually kept up his faith?
Have we actually abided by his tenets?
My anxiety has shot up precipitously with this thought of presenting to him the same Incredible India that he left to our responsibility, which today we find completely stained with scars and blots of bloodshed, treachery, discrimination, corruption etc. India has though incessantly excelled in all fields but in this race towards the pinnacle what has always been deteriorating is our morale, the purity of our soul.
If we will gift contemporary India to the Father of our Nation, he would be shattered to see the sordid rapes and plight of his daughters. His conscience would be numbed seeing Nirbhaya.
Bapu coined up a beautiful designation-Harijan not for a Dalit to beaten up by an Upper Caste lady due to her shadow falling on her kinsmen in UP.
How will we present to him the balance sheet of our development and prosperity if a large number of farmers still commit suicide and many others starve to death?
It would be a curse for a father to see his children turned into terrorists having nefarious intentions. He would be shattered to see anathema filled in their hearts for their fellow beings.
A Father’s head is held high with his son coming into lime light but also his guilt has no bounds when his child is crowned with titles of corruption, being a potential banker in Swizz Banks.
A Father can bear everything but the decadence of his family, the breakup of the family. But when we will gift Bapu, the contemporary ‘Incredible India’, he will find his sons turned into enemies, tyrants and maniacs. The worst and most pinching part is- the national leaders, the politicians who are entrusted to run and keep India united, keep dividing it on the grounds of religion, caste, etc. just to augment their vote banks for their political and monetary benefits.
However, I have not committed any of the above crime.
But am I not a part of it?
Are you not a part of it?
Who is exactly to be blamed?
The truth is that WE all have failed as children. We have nothing to present to our father as a token of gratitude for his exceptional devotion and sacrifice for us. We have only Ruined India which will perturb and shatter Bapu’s soul.
Before celebrating this Father’s day, wake up, ponder and do regret upon your failure, our failure as ideal children. We have no reason to have celebrations today!
