The Traditional Father and a Present Day Father

The Traditional Father

He is the family head,

who earns for his love:

his spouse and children;

they are in his mind always,

whenever he has to spend money,

he thinks of them,

spends for them,

if their needs, desires are met,

he thinks of his own needs and desires.

He works long hours, to earn,

for a house for his family,

jewelry and other shopping for his wife,

and higher education for his children.

He is paid back fully,

with a small warm hug, from his children,

and a big warm hug from the better half.

He thanks God for His blessings,

and,

works still harder,

to achieve his unrealised dreams of life,

through the success of his children,

the ultimate goal in every homely family;

a better career, a better standard of life,

for the children and the coming generations.

This tradition must continue for the success of humanity,

Hopefully the children recognise his sacrifice,

but it may not be so.

The present generation may not thank the parents,

who caused their existence,

for they may attribute it to an accident, while satisfying sexual urge.

The ageing parents,

may yearn for care and communication,

from their offsprings,

which may or may not be adequate,

and then the lonely couple,

'has nothing to look back with pride,

and nothing to look forward with hope',

and,

they go to their waiting room,

called 'Old Age Home',

a symbol of degenerating family values.

A Present Day Father

He is worldly-wise,

he spends for his children,

as a social duty,

without sacrificing his own interest,

for he knows,

when he is old,

his children may not come to his rescue,

and,

he would not like to lose his self-respect,

by being dependent upon them,

financially,

and also emotionally,

he would prefer to spend evening of his life,

in his friends' company,

where he has his own identity,

and,

not with his children,

as an appendix to children's family,

as a male governess, for the family,

a care taker for grandchildren.

There is a very thin border line,

in the roles of grand parents and governess,

which gets ambiguous,

as time flows;

respectful requests,

turn into polite dictates,

later into advice,

and then nasty comments.

There is a need to train humanity,

to balance the skewed life style,

all over the world,

where aged parents are at disadvantage,

they are still an asset,

need identity,

which they are losing naturally due to old age,

and socially too,

as they are losing the friends,

with whom they shared sweet memories.

When the tree is old,

do not uproot it,

for, it may not give fruits,

it can still provide shade.