I’m sure while growing up; we’ve all admired various superheroes. Some of us loved the way they rescued lives and saved the innocent people from evil, sometimes going out of their way to help people in need. They just amazed us with their superpowers to spin a web, to hold back a gushing train, to jump from skyscrapers, cheating death every now and then.
We loved them for who they were. We in fact admired them even more, because they inspired us to be like who they were. Superheroes were fun. They commanded respect because they cared about you more than themselves. They gave much more than what they got. They protected you and made sure you were safe.
Well, now that I’ve grown up and have grown out of my superhero fad, I just realized that all through my childhood days, there was someone in my life, who did everything a Batman, Spiderman or a Superman would’ve done for me, albeit in a nonchalant way. Rather, he did much more. And now as destiny has it, I miss him because I don’t have him around me anymore. And in all this childish excitement and hoopla we almost always forget to acknowledge this real superhero in our lives. I miss you dad.
Now, when I sit and think about it, I realize what a great friend he was. It is worthy to note that, what a mother does for a child is often widely acknowledged, but as a child one never tends to fully understand and acknowledge what a father does for a child. I realized that he was the one who moulded me into the person I am today. My likes, dislikes, hobbies, interests, my character was built by my dad. He was the one who was always there. He was the one on whose arm you slept in the night, and he would cuddle you up from three sides on a cold rainy night just to make you feel that you’re protected from the big bad world outside.
He didn’t teach me the lessons I leant at school, he taught me the lessons of life. He taught me how to swim through deep waters, literally and in life. He played cricket with me and would bowl to me for hours, and was the proudest man when I was named the captain of my school cricket team.
He was the one who’d cry just by seeing me cry. He was someone who stayed up and answered the doorbell, when I came back home from a late night out. He was the one who took pride in whoever I was, even if I was nobody. And then, when I started my journey from being a nobody to somebody, he just took the backseat. The greatest gift a child can give to his father is to be that great a father to his own children. I don’t know if I can ever be as good a father to my kids, as my dad was to me.
Amidst thinking all this, I was just visualizing the transition in the perception of a father, in a child’s mind. When we are say 5 – 10 years old, our father is the person, whom we look upto. He is our superhero. There’s just no-one like him around. He is the best at what he does. You admire him for what he is. He is your idol.
Then suddenly you grow older and between the ages of 10 – 20 years, your father is this person who suddenly starts nagging you. Insisting that you should come home earlier than you do, concentrate more on studies, spend less money on the unnecessary things of life and start saving. He just makes this transition from being a cool dad to being a nagging father. He becomes one of those many commodities in your life, of which you think your friend owns a far better variety than you do.
Well, now in the age group of 20 – 30 you realize that you’ve grown into this full fine man. You chase your ambitions, achieve them. Start a new life, get married. You just almost don’t seem to recognize the existence of this man. You have far more important things to worry about. Your wife, your promotion, your new car, EMI’s for the housing loans for your new house, your brand new car, all of that. Poor old man gets completely sidetracked.
Now between 30 – 40 you have what you always wanted. You have your children, a successful career, money to spend and a lavish lifestyle. You can now afford to spend more on your kids than what your dad spent on you. You now start feeling what a miser he was. You are definitely sure that you have outdone him in every aspect of life and are a far more successful person than your father ever could be. This is also the phase where your young children will idolize you and make you their SUPERMAN. Good, it just pleases you ego even more.
Then between the ages of 40 – 50, you start realizing that your children have suddenly started distancing themselves from you. They just do not have enough time for you. They have their college, friends, parties and a lot of other things to take care of. You have just become their fund
ing source. You also start realizing that your father was partially right when he thought you went overboard when you spent 5 grand on the New Year Eve bash. You do realize that your father was right in asking you to cultivate a habit for savings. And you do realize that he was far more tolerant with you than what you are with your kids.
And now, in the final phase when you’ve blown off more than 50 candles off your cake, you realize what a great man your father was. How much he sacrificed so that you could do everything that he could not. You wish you had spent more time with him. You somehow start idolizing him again. You enter the same phase that you were in when you were 5 years old. You think that he was the Best of what a father could be. He suddenly again becomes your SUPERMAN!!! But the only difference is, back then when you were 5, you could come back home to your SUPERMAN from school… now when you’re 50, your SUPERMAN… is all but gone!
I think life is far more cruel than people really think of it to be. It has different ways of making you realize things. In my case, I just wish it had adopted a dfferent way. Time defeated me again, it just ran out on me before I could realize my lag and catch up with it. And now, as usual I’m hoping things were different. Having said that I’m glad I’ve realized some things which I should’ve realized long time back. I’m very sad about the fact that I lost that 1 person who loved me more than anyone else in this world. I’m sad that I couldn’t ever thank him enough for what he did for me. I’m also sad that I couldn’t ever express to him what he really meant to me. But I’m happy that I realized all this, so that I can be the same HIM to my children when I have them. Be their SUPERMAN!!!
We loved them for who they were. We in fact admired them even more, because they inspired us to be like who they were. Superheroes were fun. They commanded respect because they cared about you more than themselves. They gave much more than what they got. They protected you and made sure you were safe.
Well, now that I’ve grown up and have grown out of my superhero fad, I just realized that all through my childhood days, there was someone in my life, who did everything a Batman, Spiderman or a Superman would’ve done for me, albeit in a nonchalant way. Rather, he did much more. And now as destiny has it, I miss him because I don’t have him around me anymore. And in all this childish excitement and hoopla we almost always forget to acknowledge this real superhero in our lives. I miss you dad.
Now, when I sit and think about it, I realize what a great friend he was. It is worthy to note that, what a mother does for a child is often widely acknowledged, but as a child one never tends to fully understand and acknowledge what a father does for a child. I realized that he was the one who moulded me into the person I am today. My likes, dislikes, hobbies, interests, my character was built by my dad. He was the one who was always there. He was the one on whose arm you slept in the night, and he would cuddle you up from three sides on a cold rainy night just to make you feel that you’re protected from the big bad world outside.
He didn’t teach me the lessons I leant at school, he taught me the lessons of life. He taught me how to swim through deep waters, literally and in life. He played cricket with me and would bowl to me for hours, and was the proudest man when I was named the captain of my school cricket team.
He was the one who’d cry just by seeing me cry. He was someone who stayed up and answered the doorbell, when I came back home from a late night out. He was the one who took pride in whoever I was, even if I was nobody. And then, when I started my journey from being a nobody to somebody, he just took the backseat. The greatest gift a child can give to his father is to be that great a father to his own children. I don’t know if I can ever be as good a father to my kids, as my dad was to me.
Amidst thinking all this, I was just visualizing the transition in the perception of a father, in a child’s mind. When we are say 5 – 10 years old, our father is the person, whom we look upto. He is our superhero. There’s just no-one like him around. He is the best at what he does. You admire him for what he is. He is your idol.
Then suddenly you grow older and between the ages of 10 – 20 years, your father is this person who suddenly starts nagging you. Insisting that you should come home earlier than you do, concentrate more on studies, spend less money on the unnecessary things of life and start saving. He just makes this transition from being a cool dad to being a nagging father. He becomes one of those many commodities in your life, of which you think your friend owns a far better variety than you do.
Well, now in the age group of 20 – 30 you realize that you’ve grown into this full fine man. You chase your ambitions, achieve them. Start a new life, get married. You just almost don’t seem to recognize the existence of this man. You have far more important things to worry about. Your wife, your promotion, your new car, EMI’s for the housing loans for your new house, your brand new car, all of that. Poor old man gets completely sidetracked.
Now between 30 – 40 you have what you always wanted. You have your children, a successful career, money to spend and a lavish lifestyle. You can now afford to spend more on your kids than what your dad spent on you. You now start feeling what a miser he was. You are definitely sure that you have outdone him in every aspect of life and are a far more successful person than your father ever could be. This is also the phase where your young children will idolize you and make you their SUPERMAN. Good, it just pleases you ego even more.
Then between the ages of 40 – 50, you start realizing that your children have suddenly started distancing themselves from you. They just do not have enough time for you. They have their college, friends, parties and a lot of other things to take care of. You have just become their fund
ing source. You also start realizing that your father was partially right when he thought you went overboard when you spent 5 grand on the New Year Eve bash. You do realize that your father was right in asking you to cultivate a habit for savings. And you do realize that he was far more tolerant with you than what you are with your kids.And now, in the final phase when you’ve blown off more than 50 candles off your cake, you realize what a great man your father was. How much he sacrificed so that you could do everything that he could not. You wish you had spent more time with him. You somehow start idolizing him again. You enter the same phase that you were in when you were 5 years old. You think that he was the Best of what a father could be. He suddenly again becomes your SUPERMAN!!! But the only difference is, back then when you were 5, you could come back home to your SUPERMAN from school… now when you’re 50, your SUPERMAN… is all but gone!
I think life is far more cruel than people really think of it to be. It has different ways of making you realize things. In my case, I just wish it had adopted a dfferent way. Time defeated me again, it just ran out on me before I could realize my lag and catch up with it. And now, as usual I’m hoping things were different. Having said that I’m glad I’ve realized some things which I should’ve realized long time back. I’m very sad about the fact that I lost that 1 person who loved me more than anyone else in this world. I’m sad that I couldn’t ever thank him enough for what he did for me. I’m also sad that I couldn’t ever express to him what he really meant to me. But I’m happy that I realized all this, so that I can be the same HIM to my children when I have them. Be their SUPERMAN!!!
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