Father's Day

Is there really anything special about this day? This blogger begins to wonder.

Every year we come to the second last Sunday of June and people begin to remember their fathers! The date is so specific that people actually wait for this particular day to wish their fathers and fathers every where 'Happy Fathers day' and to express their love! It is rather sad to think that expressions of love to a father is now confined to one particular day of the year when you really have 364 more days to do so!

I suppose people don't bother to express their love to their fathers the other 364 days maybe because fathers themselves don't display expressions of love to their children. I guess it all has to do with this macho stuff! A father usually suppresses his feelings of love towards his children. He doesn't really sit down and chat his children, let alone hug them, especially not in public. A father seldom makes time to do little things with his children, like reading stories or helping them with their homework. I guess, men in general avoid close proximity for fear of people's contemptuous glances and to avoid being marked as effeminate by the society they live in.

I mean, while we are on the subject of Father's Day, let us ponder why we actually have this day in the first place. Like I said, there is nothing really special or significant about this day when you compare it to Mother's Day! Let's just think about how our society celebrate Mother's Day. First of all, there are so many special programmes like movies lined-up by the television stations to let people know about the plights of all mothers all over the world. At national level, we even organise Mother's Day extravaganzas by having dinner shows at hotels dedicated to mothers, where famous singers croon to mothers all over the country. In fact there are even awards for 'Mother of the Year' (Ibu Mithali) which the government organizes. So special is a Mother's Day.

And then there is Father's Day. Sigh!