Fathers' Day

Fathers’ day is a celebration honouring fathers and fatherhood all over the globe. This day wasn’t always in existence though. In the year 1907, the disaster of the Monongah Mining took place. This incident took the lives of 361 men. Almost 250 children lost their fathers.

A woman named Grace Golden Clayton proposed to the government that Father’s Day be celebrated in honour of all the unfortunate deaths of the men who used to be the fathers of some children. She also lost her dad in that disaster. That is how Father’s Day began in the USA and then spread worldwide.

Fathers are the lesser appreciated, but equally contributing parent our lives. Sure, they may be a little on the tough side, but that doesn’t mean they love us any less. They are the first male figure in our lives. The first superhero. One of the two crew members who ensures that the show known as their child’s life runs without a hitch.

I love my dad, I love his perfect side swept hair, his unhealthy obsession with deodorants and body sprays, his OCD tendency to have everything in its proper place, his handwriting which reminds me of Victorian architecture and his love for non-vegetarian food, which he has passed down to me. We don’t have the typical father-daughter relationship. We fight, argue, pull each other’s hair and sometimes get into such intense fights that my mom has to play referee. We tell each other everything!

My childhood is filled with some of the fondest memories involving my dad. There hasn’t been a single milestone in my life for which my dad wasn’t with me. When I was in Playgroup, I always used to cry and throw a fit before going to school. My mom was(is) a teacher, so she had to leave early. It was my dad who brushed my teeth, fed me breakfast, made me finish my milk, got me ready and dropped me to the playgroup. But the best memory of all is watching the numerous kids shows with him on CBeebies while eating – Fimbles, Charlie and Lola, Mister Maker, In The Night Garden, The Roly Mo Show, I Can Cook, Nina and the neurons, Tele Tubbies, gosh I can’t even remember all of them! Over the years, even Peppa Pig, Sofia the First, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Masha and the bear, Roll no. 21 and Doc McStuffins have also been added to this list. Our mighty war of the remote, the daily morning school runs, the science/math tutoring, the doctor visits, the parent-teacher meetings, the annual days, the fancy dress competitions – every single thing, he’s always been there.

Whenever I used to feel sick in school, he used to come all the way from Koramangala to Padmanabhanagar (12 kilometres!)to pick me up and take me to the doctor. He has taken numerous sick leaves for me and made weird concoctions with my grandmother’s help to cure my sickness. And not to forget, he’s the one who got me hooked onto reading. We both have more inside jokes and traditions than the number of words in a thesaurus. He is my knight in shining armour, my best friend, my arch nemesis and my personal shrink. Words cannot describe our relationship. Many kids are dealt with a not-so-good hand in the parent department and I’m extremely grateful for not being one of them. Fathers are a hero in their kids’ lives, no matter how cliché it sounds, it is true.

Long story short, fathers are an irreplaceable part of our lives and from a daughter’s perspective, are one of the most important pieces of the puzzle called life. So, to all the uh-maaaay-zing fathers out there, (especially mine!) A VERY HAPPY FATHERS’ DAY!!!

Signing off,

Akshata😉