Poppins...

How many times did my uncle, tell me the story of how the universe was formed. With his index finger he would draw the line of a rainbow through the air and tell tales about it's formation in the aftermath of light rainfall, with the sun still shining bright. I still remember, I was in standard two or three then and whenever my uncle realized that concepts were not settling distinctly in my mind, he would pull an edition of Britannica encyclopedia from the book rack and show me the details.

Well, he was to me, my Poppins uncle. I used to visit his house on Saturdays after school, (we used to have half day school on Saturdays) and return back on Sunday night, so that the regular school routine from Monday was not neglected. Every time when I used to leave his place, on a Sunday night, it was a sad faced me, tears rolling down my eyes and a tantrum-filled goodbye. This man, in his late 50s then was a member of the teaching faculty in one of well known technical institutes in India, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela.

I always felt the separation anxiety while leaving on Sunday nights for a number of reasons. First and foremost was, Monday means back to school, getting streamlined for the regular monotonous life again. Other than that, those two days spent in the college campus were literally doses of middle class pampered treatment. Those who have seen any of the IITs or National Institute of Technology or IISc campus, can appreciate better, when I saw the campus is vast, open, lush green, widespread and Brobdingnagian. These are mini townships in themselves and the staff quarters are generally situated in one corner of the unit. Staff quarters have open space and the garden within each quarter's boundary provided the perfect pitch for a game of cricket, cycling, and just run around among the guava, mango and litchi trees playing hide and seek. At evenings, rush to the college campus open-air theater and watch a movie, (am sure this is sort of a ritual in every good campus, of screening movies on weekends at night) and fall asleep in my uncle’s lap half way through the movie.

More than all these, he was one who taught me to write perfectly within the four lines in my notebook to master cursive writing. He was never a teacher to me, just that I felt it more fun and interesting to do something when he asked me to do so. He was the one who instilled in me the pleasure of reading since I was a kid, grew up with Enid Blyton, Hardy Boys books, Tintin and Amar Chitra Katha comics, National Geographic Society magazines, etc.

My downhearted and blue departure from his place on a Sunday night was always buoyed up by a simple gift from my uncle every time. Yes, it's every time. A pack of Poppins and a bar of 5-Star chocolate. So don't you feel, it was pampering, when I had to request my parents many a times to get this share of candies during a 5 day week's time. Fullto masti, reading comics, encyclopedia and no school books, cycling, watching movie in the college campus (cable TV by then was not popular), visiting engineering labs full of boilers and machines such as lathes, drilling machine, etc and last but not the least a pack containing 10 differently colored, button shaped candies. What more do you need?

So that was Poppins uncle to me and to this day, I call him by the same name, though both of us have grown in the past 19 years or so. A couple of weeks back when I saw him at a family function after a long long gap, found that he had grown old, could see wrinkles on his face, hair gone white and he had adorned all the symbols of aging. That's natural, but what I liked about him is that still he is youthful at heart.

True to his keen appreciation for books and keeping in mind the childhood days, he had gifted my elder brother, a book on the eve of his marriage. I even overheard what he transpired to my brother when he handed over the gift in the crowd of guests who had gathered for the reception party.

'I am really proud of you and the kind of individual you have grown up to. Work hard, be smart and make sure that you have a nice life ahead with your partner for life. I also recommend you to open this pack and there is something special inside this. Make sure to read 'this' when you settle back at Chicago'.

Later on, when my brother opened the pack, it was this, a book. Just shows how thoughtful someone can be. Perfect cursive writing.



And there was another small pack, and it had 20 packs of Poppins. A small note was there saying that it was for us brothers. It said 'Even today, the taste of orange, lemon, strawberry, black currant or the pineapple flavored sugary buttons of Poppins is the same, what it was when you were kids.'

Still the words keep resonating in my mind.

Because we live in an age of gross accumulation, flash and displayism. Anything big and showy when it comes to gifting draws more attention. Think 'Bada Hai Toh Behtar Hai', it's the size, the bigness that matters AD from Videocon. But still there are things that generate more compassion and warm sensitivity when it comes to gifting. All it needs to select one of those are attitude, an attitude to embrace the good things of life and in a wordless way of telling someone how much they mean to you or what you think of him/her/them.

This brings to my mind, an unforgettable gift, that one of my friends, a retired newsman and reporter, GV Krishnan had given his friend, Kini. Can you make a wild guess what was that? It was a B2B gift. I know your mind would have thought Business-2-Business for the word B2B, but it stands for Blog-2-Blog. It's the tale of two friends who are now in two different corners of the world but started their career in reporting decades back traveling round the globe.

Kini and I had lost touch with each other when we were still young, wild and experimenting in London. When reconnected, we found ourselves wizened by age, hassles of living, and, in Kini's case, by an incurable ailment. Our re-connect dates back to a mail from him well over a year back, informing me of a change of address. He had shifted base from London (where he had spent four decades) to a chalet bungalow in Herne Bay, Kent - "a geriatric land where one is more likely to see dear old ones scooting around on electric-scooters than young lads on noisy motorbikes". The real message was in Kini's sign-off line that read - 'Uncertainty and hope fills my life at present'.

The complete B2B series is here. Check those, perfect tapestry with words.

Now since this is the time of the year, when people exchange gifts, what gift are you giving me? A pack of Poppins, 'Doooin kya'



Keep reading and remain connected.

The Last Lecture...

I generally don't like reading autobiographical books, but sometime back, I had picked a book after reading reviews about it. It was for the simple reason that I was thrilled when I heard the first few minutes of a lecture (nah nah not the kinds that we have in grad schools, anyways I was always a last bencher) by the central character of the book on iTunes. To me it is always more pleasurable to read a book, rather than to see it, converted into a movie or a television series.

So pause, pause after 2 minutes of viewing the video on my iPod and I made sure I read this book. For all those who believe that 'The Last Lecture' would be a gyan book considering the word 'lecture' in its title, please don't be misguided. Once you have completed reading it, you would realize the real worth of this book. I am not sure, if someone would buy my views but that's how I felt once I flipped the last page of this book.

The Last Lecture is a book on Randy Pausch, a Computer Science professor at Carnegie Mellon. It centers around a remarkable speech he gave - Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams after being diagnosed with terminal cancer on September 18, 2007. The book is simple and talks about living a satisfying and productive life and these are cited by means of incidents that Pausch confronted and faced in his personal life. That’s why people say, there is no better classroom in this world than 'Life'. This word of wisdom may sound hypothetical but that's true to the core.

I felt the kernel of what Pausch wants to convey is that, dream, dream, dream and work towards it.

"Almost all of us have childhood dreams; for example, being an astronaut, or making movies or video games for a living. Sadly, most people don't achieve theirs, and I think that's a shame. I had several specific childhood dreams, and I've actually achieved most of them. More importantly, I have found ways, in particular the creation (with Don Marinelli), of CMU's Entertainment Technology Center of helping many young people actually *achieve* their childhood dreams."

"It's not about how to achieve your dreams, it's about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the dreams will come to you."

Randy Pausch, was recognized as a pioneer in human-computer interaction and design, and one of the very first person who worked extensively on virtual reality research. Although diagnosed with incurable pancreatic cancer in September 2006, it was his spirit and zest for life that won him accolades as a teacher and a mentor. Though he is no more, (he left this world on July 25th, 2008) he has left behind a treasured legacy.

One of the most important points that Pausch speaks about that impressed me was 'Head Fake'. What's that?

When we send our kids to play organized sports -football, soccer, swimming, whatever - for most of us, it's not because we're desperate for them to learn the intricacies of the sport.

What we really want them to learn is far more important: teamwork, perseverance, sportsmanship, the value of hard work, an ability to deal with adversity. This kind of indirect learning is what some of us like to call a 'head fake."

There are two kinds of head fakes. The first is literal. On a football field, a player will move his head one way so you'll think he's going in that direction. Then he goes in the opposite way. It’s like a magician using misdirection. Coach Graham used to tell us to watch a player's waist. "Where his belly button goes, his body goes," he'd say.

The second kind of head fake is the really important one - the one that teaches people things they don't realize they're learning until well into the process. If you're a head fake specialist, your hidden objective is to get them to learn something you want them to learn.

Limpid style of telling things and it’s so simple that it aplies to each and every aspect of our lives. Pausch mentions in his book that, there were few hidden intentions of delivering the speech, Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams at the University.

"The lecture was for my kids, but if others are finding value in it, that is wonderful," Pausch wrote on his Web site. "But rest assured; I'm hardly unique."

This was probably the best gift he would have offered his three kids: Dylan, Logan and Chloe who would miss their father when they grow up. Kids definitely bask in the warm cocoon of their fathers and their presence makes life more meaningful. One of my friends, Kishore has written a letter to his father and sent it with the hope that he would reply to it soon.

"Under the ruse of giving an academic lecture, I was trying to put myself in a bottle that would one day wash up on the beach for my children."

Pausch loved his wife, a lot and this lecture was his gift to his wife whose birthday was on the same day, as he delivered the speech. Before concluding his talk, he invited his wife, Jai to the stage, embraced her and the entire crowd sang 'Happy Birthday' song for her. Another head fake, if you got it.

What goes deep down and finally settles after reading this book is the message of optimism. When Pausch was asked on the day of his lecture, 'What was the best thing that had happened to him that day?'

He replied, "Well, first off, I'd say the day's not over yet. So there's always a chance that there will be a new best."

Well, can one think of a reply that is more optimistic and affirmative than this, when one knows that six months down the line there is no road ahead?

A jubilant read definitely for book lovers. For others, even though you can watch the entire lecture on some forums or video website on the internet, just try on this book. And I am pretty sure each and every word would distill and settle down as you turn the pages.

Keep reading and remain connected.

(Note: None of the pictures used in this post are taken by me.)

Sunfeast World 10K Run...run maadi run...

For a moment forget the regular kvetching that one hears in various sources of news and media regarding Bangalore's woeful infrastructure issues. Keeping aside all these daily resentments, everyone rushed to the Kanteerva Stadium on a bright Sunday morning.



But what for? To be a part of the Sunfeast World 10K run, this is an international annual event, and was organized in India for the first time. The Sunfeast World 10k was touted as the richest 10k runs with total prize money of 150,000 USD up for grabs.



The event comprised of six races: World 10K Elite Men, World 10K Elite Women, Senior Citizens run (4 KM), Wheelchair event (4 KM), Open 10K Run and Majja Run (5.7 KM). Since the event was slotted between 6AM and 10:30AM, the city police authorities had made punctilious plans for minimal diversion of traffic during the four-hour marathon which saw active participation of around 20,000 people.



When I reached the spot around 7:30AM, preparations were in full swing for the Senior Citizens run which saw an impressive crowd of 700 plus participants. Most of senior citizens were aged above 60 but the energy and the exuberance that they displayed, quashed the roar of helicopters circling the stadium. Harmony, an NGO organized the senior citizens run. Each of the participants was given a T-shirt by Harmony and once they were dressed, there was a wave of uniformity at the starting point, very similar to a sight when children assemble in schools for morning prayer before classes commence. The highlight of this race was the high energy level of the senior citizens making them feel as if they were still in their teens. Jokes were cracked, few laughs were shared and there was an infectious air of camaraderie among these people who came not only from Bangalore but also from different parts of India.



Oprah Winfrey once said running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it. This was the kind of perseverance exhibited by a group of steel-willed people. Braving the heat and the dust, the handicapped persons maneuvered their wheel chairs, reflecting the true spirit of participation.



Suddenly the action shifted to inside the stadium because the World 10K Elite Men/Women had entered the final stage. In a closely contested run, Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea bagged the 1,50,000 US Dollar Sunfeast World 10K title by completing the marathon in 27:51 seconds just three seconds ahead of his rival Moses Kipsiro of Uganda. The women’s section witnessed the rarest of rare photo finishes in any 10k run, with both Grace Momanyi of Kenya and Elevan Abeylegesse of Turkey, declared joint winners. The complete results can be seen here..



There was cut throat competition in the Open 10K run which had large groups of amateur runners, trying their level best to live up to their own expectations. Few ran, few jogged and rest others just walked in the spirit of sport.



Everyone was indeed up and running. It was a place where the east met the west while running.



The most delightful aspect was to see each one run irrespective of caste, creed, color, religion, sex, age, language, region, etc.



There was one single motive to be a part of the excitement and ebullience.



The Majja Run as the name signifies (majja means fun) merriment was the epicenter of frolic and liveliness. Though the distance to be covered for this particular race was only 5.7 kms, what separated this one from the others were the variety and the diversity. There were runners turning up in varied costumes with powerful messages, banners and placards.



Few celebrities like Dino Morea, Rahul Bose, Charu Sharma and Vijay Amritraj had the crowd screeching as they made their appearance for the Majja Run. Everything here resembled a mini-carnival and fancy dress competition. Girls with different attention-getting dresses very much like the Indianized version of IPL cheerleaders attire.



Someone even put on special clothes to appear princely, like the mighty Tipu Sultan.



The one that surpassed every other costume in terms of ingenuity and colorations was the Ravana attire. Like a bee gets attracted towards nectar, participants were pulled in towards this individual dressed as Ravana to take a few snaps in the midst of the race.



There were lots of groups and voluntary associations such as Parikrma, Harmony and others who all came under one umbrella 'Bangalore Cares'. This aggroup participated in the race for a number of causes such as children welfare, greener and pollution free Bangalore, togetherness, etc.





How can an event of such extensive magnitude and variety happen without the support from corporate and business sponsors and advertisers? Well of course there were some sponsors from a wide spectrum. DHL was the logistics partner and it participated in big numbers, with few of the team members having flown from Mumbai. To name a few, Nike was the running partner, Kingfisher, the airline partner, Radio Mirchi as the radio partner, Manipal Cure and Care, as the medical and health partner, etc who passionately supported the cause and diversity of the World 10K experience. CNBC-TV18 was media partner and it brought the event live to millions of Indians on that day, to the television sets from 7AM onwards, along with a potpourri of other coverages and programmes related to this the event.





All is all it was a well organized event that got equally receptive reactions from all those who participated for this run. This race put Bangalore in the map of conducting with dynamism and zings a global marathon. More so, it was a testimony to the fact that multiple goals can be achieved through sports and citizen's active participation and above all how sports are a social leveler.



In this huge ocean of human beings, I could see some human faces which pulled my attention like a magnet pulls pieces of iron. There was this elderly woman selling ground nuts who was a bit perplexed to see a sea of people just running, a very new site from what sees in her day to day life.



This man was also confused to see this sudden wave of sneaker lovers on an otherwise traffic struck road.



But one of the most satisfying moment in this entire event running with my camera was to capture this bubbly toddler, who had come with her dad and brother (if you can see, the young brother is just hidden from the father) to be a part of this race. She was giving poses which to me meant, 'Daddy isn't allowing me to run or crawl this year, well next year I would be there to tip toe with other people'. That's a smart and emotionally charged expression, so I and my fellow Bangaloreans would wait for you, sunshine girl, till we meet again.



The rest of the pictures are in this album. Naama Bengaluru rocks as always.

Keep reading and remain connected.

Ek Jhakaas sa Argument...

Now, guess how a typical argument goes, there are two sides and each tries to convince or prove the other side, that it is correct. What goes on in the process is that each group has its own set of views gathered from various reservoirs, be it personal readings, eruditions from training, observations from outside world and a host of other sources.

But when it comes to a small baby, I am sure that they are not entrenched in panoramas and views of any format. For them, their expressions are like air or water, fluid and unstable in nature, just express and just keep on speaking till they merely wear themselves out or are exhausted through repetition, overuse, etc. That's fun, and often they end up asking some funny questions for which parents have to think for a while before offering a convincing answer.

I have a small cousin, well she is grown up now and is studying in standard two. A couple of years back, my uncle and aunt had a small family and friends get-together and party to mark their marriage anniversary. This smart toddler goes to her maa and asks, 'Why didn't you invite me for this warm event, every year, even though papa and you are married for close to seven years now?'

Fundu question, isn't it? Now check this video and see how the kid is engrossed in what it (using it, as I am not sure from the video snippet if it’s a wise he or a she) wants to say.



If you watch the video closely, the kid is keeping its focus on the other person and her behavior. Whenever the person is trying to pigeonhole the kid into some other discussion, it simply side-steps her comments and then redirects its own depot of energy back upon her, in the most free-flowing way. This is sooper yummy, verbal martial arts. Never guard against any of the comments, simply redirect and return the inputs back to the person and this kid is definitely a mavin in this arena.

Btw, can someone guess which language was that? It's Turkish, as I could make this from one of the comments on a Youtube page.

Lol this is my own language Turkish.. hooray for Turkey
This woman has a tv show for little kids and also is an actress and plays in a child serie. lol that baby is adorable!
they are arguing about the channel little girl wants,
about which baby channel she wants to watch on the digiturk tv box. the whole advertisement is about the digiturk tv box thing.
digiturk channels blabla..

Keep reading and remain connected.

A Rare School Shooting...

Since the time, you and I were kids, we have always considered school as a center of knowledge, a place of learning prefatorial and rudimentary manners of any genteel society. Add to this, it is a place that is always marked by childish mischief and gumptious cacophonies of students as they run aimlessly looking for their friends.

But this air of ingenuousness was punctured last week in one of most unimaginable act of juvenile delinquency. In what could be mentioned as one of the worst nightmares that any parent could think of, in a swish, upscale private school, 'The Euro International School' in Gurgaon, one of India's flourishing outsourcing hubs on the outskirts of Delhi, a murder happened in the the broad day light.

Abhishek Tyagi, a VIII class student of a school in Gurgaon, was shot dead by two of his classmates after school hours within the school premises. The reason was a simmering feud among Abhishek and two other students, a couple of days back and the end result of that disagreement was this shootout.

When one reads this news, the first thing in the morning on the breakfast table, it sends a chill down the spine. The most disturbing element being the type of violence happening in schools among the young ones. Bloodstains on the corridors of schools, were incidents that were typical to the western world but now it has happened in India. It abruptly throws before us, a bagful of questions. We all know that change is generally incremental in nature but sometimes things change so fast that it makes us think. What changed in the society that enabled these students to act and behave in a manner that was totally unexpected?

A simple evaluation of this incident tells that both the accused boys involved in the shooting hail from upper middle class families whose fathers dealt with the complex world of real estate business. The world real estate is tinctured with its own set of conventions, the more one enters into the intricacies of this business, the more insecure and worn-out life becomes. In India, ten years ago, very few people had access to guns for personal protection because of the difficult gun license policies. Times have changed now, with oodles of disposal income and with an intention of personal protection, the nouveau rich business men can easily own a gun.

'He took out his father's revolver from the TV trolley and smuggled it to the school concealed in his socks. He then hid the gun in the bathroom waiting for the school to get over and then fired at Abhishek,' said Mahender Pal Singh, Police Commissioner, Gurgaon.

What is really disturbing in this episode is that, the father of one of the accused leaves the revolver in the TV trolley as if it's a toy or a remote control that can be picked up and used by anyone. The father was definitely aware of his negligence in handling the firearm; else he would not have been absconding after the gruesome incident, only to have surrendered four days later.

Many people commented that, we Indians are slowly importing these kinds of mannerisms from the western world. Watching movies packaged with violent scenes and enjoying virtual games on the computer or the internet are often cited as reasons that induce rashness and recklessness in a child’s behavior. I don't buy and accept this accusation or statement in totality. It's not that I am supporting the West, but let's not get into the blame games when there are certain tangible fractures in the new Indian socio-eco system, especially in the cities and metropolis. I believe that that learning the right values is not a matter of geography but what we see around us and the way we are nurtured to handle things and situations.

The present day India is swamped by crass consumerism and rat race for acquisition of commodities of materialistic value. Many people are part of this never ending marathon, which leaves them with little energy and time at the end of the day for their children. At the growing age, children are like flexible clay, so their whippy minds can be modeled with ease. In my view, which ever part of the world one goes, children are always children; they are reflections of societal and parental values. A simple nourishing value system and strong parental involvement in this changing world are something those that are needed.

Do you feel that children would enjoy their school life under the surveillance of CCTV and metal detectors? One of my friends, Deepti poses many such questions in her post here.

The school has cameras fitted in and now the parents are demanding metal detectors. Whats happening in our schools? Where is all this anger coming from? Is it time for parents to think of home schooling? Or turn schools into prisons?

How can we protect our children from their own classmates?

Keep reading and remain connected.

(These views are mine and are not quoted at any individual.)

Yeh 'Father's Day' Kya Hai ?

That was an age when premium time daily was spent with someone, time before life coursed itself thorough some tracks and transformed everyday stuff like coffee or old black and white photographs into artificial tenuities. Yesterday morning I spoke to my father over phone and he told me that my brother had called him from the US and wished him 'Father's Day'. I could feel the warm smile on his face when he was expressing me this, and it was more than a morning sun on a clear day.

I am aware of this day, 'Father's Day' and the various theories regarding its genesis but never thought beyond this. Though it is not celebrated in India with great fervor and doesn't reach the media wires unlike the Valentine's Day when windows of shops are shattered by stones. But the concept seems to be catching up and gradually taking roots mostly pioneered by Indians/Indian children broadly called 'desis' living abroad.

Now, the question that many would raise is, do we need a separate day to accredit one's own father? Do we need to earmark another day in our calendar when we know that the inter personal relationship between fathers and children is inseparable. Well disparate ideas and views would surface, some claiming that like everything material and celebratory shipped to India, these days from the western world, 'Father's Day' is the latest addition. But my take is what is in-correct in this concept?

With the emergence of nuclear families and i-generation in Indian cities and metros, people do not have the time for others in their over-crowded schedule of activities. How I see this day is, that it's like any other day but you make that someone 'your father' or 'your dad' feel something special. Something similar to stark simplicity and the un-spoken sentiments held in the 'Raymond's Complete Man' advertisement shown in Indian television arrests the spirit of the day. The advertisement shows a father and young son duo moseying along the track into the woods, lost in an absorbing conversation and all these small moments coming to life like bioscope slides as the son grows up.

A father is a person capable of every folly after all but permeated with that divine spark that allows him to make unimaginable sacrifices for his children, extending the meaning of parenthood in the process. Indian history has it how the first Mughal emperor Babur, was ready to give his life, when he was advised that the sacrifice of 'the dearest possession' was the only way out to save his son, Humayan from the dark hands of death. This attribute has been passed on for generations and can be traced and tracked if we fan the embers of history of any nation.

Fathers are heroes in the eyes of their children. I guess this would be unanimous answer for any child in any part of the globe, be it India, the US or France or for that matter any country. Fathers may have flaws, their thought process may be different because of the generation gap, but the affection bestowed on them by most children is enviable. The warm and protective relationship is something that I can't exactly put in words.
[The pic is by S Paul, an eminent photographer from India.]

Not allowing for any exaggeration that accompanies strong feeling, I feel that what we learn as children in our kinder garten, school and graduation days from our parents, be it father or mother somehow leaves a deep imprint in our lives. I have immense respect for my father, who even though hailing from a very poor and humble family by the dint of his hard work and determination has a very satisfying life. From a village school to obtaining a degree in mechanical engineering from IIT Delhi, his entire education journey was completed through scholarships like the Govt of India Merit Scholarship, IIT Scholarship, etc.

Later on he worked in various positions at steel conglomerates in India, traveled a fair bit around the globe, before retiring as the General Manager in Steel Authority of India last year. His code of discipline, hard work, ideals, and a broad vision of the world are few attributes that I wish to inherit by osmosis. He has lived in an era when it was not easy to resist societal pressures, when society while very demanding on certain points was quite limp in others. He is cautious and has retained many of his generation's values and notions of Indian society, though when he could not agree with those notions, he considered it prudent not to push for it. His affection and caring was never demonstrative and explicit as is common in Hindi movies with oodles of melodrama, but somehow in an implicit way he inculcated in me, the ethos of a sheltered middle class family. He is not a preaching papa, always showed by example and held my fingers when I needed it but let me independent when he was sure that I was ready to fly.

He is a man whose love in unselfish, directed towards all people and not just immediate family, an ardent reader, a man who would help others in need but who in his own adversity would not seek anyone's help. To fortify my point, I know that since my knicker days, he runs a small library in my house, the sole purpose of which is to circulate books, journals, technical papers to poor and needy students from engineering schools in my hometown because those chaps can't afford costly books. He is also a guide and a referee to many projects executed by the poor post graduate students from all over India, especially from IIT Kharagpur. A couple of years back, when I joined work and drew my first salary, I presented him a book, Siddhartha by Herman Hesse and his reply was 'Lagta hai, tu baada ho gaya hai' [It seems you have grown up].

There was an interesting post on 'Father's Day' at Blogcritics and another one at Newsweek.

Fathers and Families Executive Director Don Hogan says the discrepancy is just more proof that dads are overworked and under appreciated. "It seems that society places a greater value on mothers than fathers," he says. "I think it's because there really is a value placed on the role of nurturing and bringing up children and that role has been assigned to mothers. Although you're seeing dads playing a greater and greater role, I don't think it has been reflected in how society views fathers."

The modern day father is an expert multi-tasker; he is a manager or a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer, a chef, a diaper changer and a pillow for his children. That's the new music played by the new age father, but beneath it all he is as concerned as is any mother. In the changing society, fathers logged into the real world are juggling between work life and family life, still trying to offer the very best to their kids.
[The pic is from American magazine, Esquire.]

As aptly said by Denzel Washington at the Harvard University Address in the movie 'Malcolm X'.

He would wanna earn a living and take care of his family, and his family would respect him.

His son will say, "I'm proud that that's my father."

His wife will say, "I'm proud that that's my husband."

"Father" only means that you're taking care of your children -- that's what it is to be a father. "Father" doesn't mean that you're havin' some babies. Anybody can have a baby. Havin' a baby does not make you father. Anybody can go out and get a woman. But not anybody can take care of that woman.

There's another word for it: It's called "responsibility."

Life goes on and I am lost in my daily activities, but every year I wait for the squeezed warm hug and the healthy solid handshake that are sufficient to beef up my sense of security and warmth when this person comes to see off me in the airport or in the railway station. 'It's better than nice, it's just wonderful.' Even as the child becomes a man or a woman, the father himself wished to be, the father continues to worry about him or her, understanding his/her temperament the best way in any relationship.

Whatever may be the case, lets make our papas, dads, baujis, appas, pitajis, abbus, etc feel special this day for all that they done to our lives and the way they prepared us to face the changed world.

Keep reading and remain connected.