“Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express.”
— Joseph Addison.
Well, how true! There is a unique and special bond of love, trust and understanding between a father and a daughter. A father always stands as a symbol of support to his daughter no matter what, and has time to listen to his daughter’s chit chat, her problems and her aspirations. It is said that the quality of father-daughter relationships may affect how daughters experience their relationships with their spouses or boyfriends. Girls who enjoy a healthy relationship with their fathers have significantly better relationships with their husbands and partners when compared to those with a difficult relationship with their fathers.
Pankaj Mittal, father of two daughters, Shreya and Ria cannot think beyond his daughters. He says, “When her tiny eyes twinkled at me and she reached out for me, I knew I had fallen in love. And when her fingers tightened around mine as she was taking her first steps, I knew I had responsibilities which I would go to any lengths to fulfill. My daughters are the centre of my universe. As soon as I get home from office, I dedicate my time to my daughters, listening to their school activities, their harmless fights, playing board games with them and finally tucking them into bed. On weekends I never bring my work home. It’s pure family time, free for my daughters to indulge in any outdoor activity they want me for. They trust me implicitly and this has helped their self esteem and confidence too.”
For those fathers who rarely see their daughters on week days, it is a bit of a struggle but they make up by spending the weekends with their children. Says Rajnesh Mascara, father of five-year-old Tavisha, “my wife takes a backseat on weekends for she knows that my time for my ‘daughter bonding’ is equally important. We make sure there is no gap, or lack of interaction between me and my daughter.
On weekends I take her out for swimming, teach her how to skate, or we go out for a kiddy movie together, visit a park or a mall. This quality time spent with each other is important to both of us and she looks forward to weekends for she gets to spend those special moments with me. I never raise my voice when she is naughty! My wife handles her disciplining and routine. At times that I come home early from work, I read her a story. Though she is very attached to her mother, she feels it’s me who can shoo away the demons and monsters at night. She feels safe and cocooned when I am around.”
The father-daughter bonding sets in from the very moment the daughter is born. Siddhartha Sarawgi says, “For the last eight months that my daughter Sanaya has been born, I go back home early from office and leave home later than usual .Workaholic that I was, now I don’t want to compromise on my time with my daughter, no matter how pressing the work is. I forget all my stress when she comes crawling and squealing towards me once I get back home from work. It’s not what I do for her but what she does for me. She has instilled a sense of calm and peace within me. Daughters bring out a very tender emotion which is incomparable.”
Arjun Singh father of a 21 year-old special child says, “My daughter is my special gift from God. When she was born, we were dissuaded by our relatives who ‘enlightened’ us that it would be very difficult to take care of a special child that too, a daughter but now she is a grown up girl and I have done everything that a father would do for a girl. I still read her stories, take her out to parks and every day I drop her to a special school and pick her back from work.
I talk to her as much as I can and she in turn trusts me and has full faith in me. She is most expressive when I am around. Being a girl, we have to be extra careful and cautious of her needs. Though there are difficult times too when she becomes too possessive about me and throws tantrums.But at night when she gives me a good night hug, I know it is all worth it for she makes my life worthwhile.”
Right from her childhood to adolescence to adulthood, a father plays a very influential role in a daughter’s life. He is the friend, guide and saviour who protects, loves her and cares for her. It is said that when God is very happy, he sends daughters to earth as his choicest blessings.
