Rashmi's Space

Image:  Designed by Freepik "प्रिय पालक, तुमचा मुलगा जेवणाचा डबा न संपवता मधल्या सुट्टीत खेळायला जातो. बाईंनीं वर्गात थांबून डबा आधी संपवायला सांगितले तरीही ऐकत नाही. तरी आपण त्याला ताकीद करावी कि अशी वागणूक भविष्यात सहन केली जाणार नाही " बाईंनी चिट्ठी पाठवली. "मम्मी, सही करून देशील?" माझ्या लहानग्याने विचारलं. मी चिट्ठी वाचून त्याच्याकडे निरखून पाहिलं. माझ्या रंगवण्याची, ओरडण्याची, तो वाट पाहत होता. मी म्हटलं, " अरे, तुझ्या टीचर ने आधीच नंबर लावला कि! मीच तिला चिट्ठी लिहिणार होते खरं तर, कि माझ्या मुलाचा डबा अर्धवट घरी परत येतो, 'तरी प्लीझ तुम्ही लक्ष द्याल का, म्हणून!" एक मिनिट पूर्ण शांततेत गेला. आणि मग आम्ही दोघंही भरभरून हसलो!

Fathers are so important. No? Maybe some people may not agree with me when I say this. Because, after all, what is it that a father can do for his child that a mother cannot do? Right? I agree. A mother can do everything for the child, from providing for the child to nurturing the child in the best way possible. She doesn’t need a man to complete her, not in this day and age. No. But for a moment, let us come away from this man-woman debate and think in a different vein. Think of the fact that there’s no life without a father, literally as well as figuratively. Okay, if that is too cheeky, how about this: The mother gives birth. We all venerate the mother who undergoes insufferable pain to bring her child to life. But the father? Isn’t the father as invested in the baby as the mother is?      It is the mother that undergoes labour pains. She is the one who actually undergoes the entire birthing process. A physical pain beyond compare. But her world is black and white -

“Wow Mum, this mango cake looks super cool!” the little one drooled. “Yep! But no touching! Let it cool first, then we’ll cut it into pieces and…” “And take pictures and post them on Instagram and on Facebook and then tweet about it and then we can eat, am I right?” he beamed! “What? No! Where is all this coming from?” I asked aghast! It wasn’t that I was not planning on taking some pictures of this lovely cake that had turned out so spongy and looked all alphonso-yellow and super moist! But hearing my little one say this as if this was the whole purpose of having baked the cake and not the fact that it was the last day of his vacation; was what hurt me. “But you do that all the time, Mum!” “Sweetheart, I have told you before, my job requires me to post regular updates on social media and my work is such that it has to be shared on these platforms so that it reaches a lot of people and they can appreciate it and share it further…” I was going all