Daddy's girl !

Second-time watch of a malayalam movie "Notebook" very recently got me thinking about a topic that has been debated, observed and analyzed forever:- a parent-child relationship.

To make the context clear, this movie has a particular scene in which a girl in her teens is facing her best friend's father's anguish over his daughter's fatal abortion attempt. She retorts back with a statement that silences everyone- "My friend was always scared of her dad; if at all, she could ever open up to you, she would have been with us today."

Being a rebellious daughter that I have been all my life, this line caught my interest. It indirectly conveyed the fact that for all the love and care that father gave his girl, she died because of some flaw in their relationship. What went wrong ?

To Daddies and Mommies:-

Today's Indian metropolitan society boasts of excessive freedom that kids get at home, an open communication that exists between parents and children, lack of discrimination for girls etc etc etc.. And definitely, parents in any part of the world loves their children irrevocably. So, why this discrepancy ?

A major problem, I believe is the reluctance that certain parents posess in accepting their kids for who they are. Given, your child has not seen world as you have or has the same level of maturity; but they need to know lot of things. Rather, they need to be educated by you. When you fail to do so, they choose other methods to know about the same; most of them doing irreparable damage. The movie bit I wrote about is just one tragic example.

Do not try to protect your child from the social malpractices and anti-social elements by keeping them in the dark; instil awareness in them; help them understand what awaits them when they start to face the world, away from your shadow. Do not lead them to believe that they are alone in case of a crisis; convince them you are there to help them with anything and everything.

Understand your child as you would, a friend. Both of you mght not necessarily have the same line of thought, not even close for that matter. But do not just dismiss his/her thoughts and ideas, tagging them as childish/immature. It is natural to be protective of your child, but be aware of the limitations. It would just increase the gap between you and your child- worst, they might never even look back as they move ahead in life.

Next, acknowledge the ever-changing society and its openness. Ten years ago, a dad would have been happiest if his daughter got married to someone of his choice. Today, he would be more than happy if she decides to share her life with a guy and not a girl !

P.S:- I have nothing against gay marriages or any other social norms.