The Idea of the Typical "Dad"

Traditionally, Father’s Day has always been celebrated on the third Sunday of June as a token of appreciation to all father figures in one's life. It is usually celebrated to show respect for their silent but ever-present love and also to acknowledge and appreciate all the sacrifices they make to help their children achieve their own dreams. Hence, it becomes essential to celebrate this day, even more so when our culture doesn’t openly acknowledge fathers for intimacy with their kids. Instead, they are usually seen as the “final voice” in the house, the one who puts the food on the table and loves you “less” than mom. 

This couldn’t be further from the truth. We are equally loved, if not more, by our dads who often saved our day by covering for our mischief in front of ma. They often work long hours just to let us live the life they couldn’t have. They spend every moment of their break from work with us, trying to catch up with our lives, feeling guilty and sad when they realise that the cost of giving us a good, comfortable life comes at the expense of their time with us. For this alone, we believe that we can never show enough gratitude to them. 

We would also like to quote this excerpt from Rabindranath Tagore’s Kabuliwala now to portray how important of a role we play in our father’s life, even if it’s not explicitly visible to us.

I saw that on the paper, there was the imprint of a small palm. It was not a photograph or oil painting. A child's hand had been anointed with ink and pressed palm down on the paper. It had made a mark, a mark of remembrance—a memento—and that's what the Kabuliwala had kept next to his chest when he sold his nuts in a land so far away from his home. A small palm print [of his daughter] had kept the heart inside his huge body soft and alive.

So, How Can You Make This Father's Day Special?

Well, the best answer we could come up with is giving back! You must have heard of the concept of "giving back" a lot but how does it work? Put simply, it makes the precious memories you have with your dad even more special for him. It often appears as if our dads are very far from us, even if in reality we’re not actually that apart. He always keeps us very close to his heart, but we often fail to recognise this and think that we can never close this non-existent gap. Thus, this Father’s Day, we want you to recognise this and let him know how grateful you are for each of his actions that express his silent, strong love; how despite all his terrible jokes, drunken mumblings and morning rants during his newspaper reading sessions, you would never trade him for anyone else in the world. 

Say Thank You Without Actually Saying Thank You

So, how do we silently say thank you to the invisible but ever-present hero in all our lives? You could either spend the whole day with him and create a ruckus in the house like you used to do when younger (which you should!) or gift something heartfelt to let him know how you feel. Also, who said it couldn’t be both? 

But, given how busy all of our lives have gotten, it’s harder for us to take more than a few hours off for a day. So, a heartfelt gift that can make your pa flash that rare smile during some quality time spent together sounds like bliss. In an attempt to help you, we’ve compiled some ideas by taking into account the precious memories our kitchen shares with their own dads. Maybe you can relate, or maybe that can even inspire your own plans for the day.

1. Relive Childhood Traditions

Did you have a routine with pa during your childhood? Maybe it was going to the same restaurant every week to eat unhealthy or jogging in the park monthly to pretend to be healthy. Renuka, from our kitchen, had one such tradition. When asked about her favourite times with her dad, she reminisced on her memories of mokku (giving hair to God during temple visits) with her dad and how he also bought home chicken kebab every week.

2. Take A Stroll Around The City

There's nothing more fun than just going out without a set destination. It's also the best way to make memories with loved ones. This one is a favourite for all daughters cause just a flash of your puppy eyes will have your dad melting and opening his wallet to buy all the goodies that caught your eye. Here's Bharati, our chef, who apart from baking, proudly claims to be an expert at this. When asked about this, she talked endlessly about how she enjoys roaming around the city with her pa who pampers her with an endless supply of clothes and food whenever they step out the door.

3. Plan a Long Weekend Getaway

Feeling tired from all the work you now have to do as an adult? Well, that was your dad too when you were young. So, why not bust some stress by planning a small getaway to a place far from home? It’s been found that being surrounded by nature is one surefire way to put your mind at rest. Be sure to mute your work-related notifications too for a stress-free weekend. This idea was suggested by Sushmitha who fondly recalled upon her memories of travelling with her dad throughout the country (from Bangalore to Odisha to Bhubaneswar, to be more specific). She also revealed her love for hilly areas and forests and how they often went hiking together whenever they found time.

4. Revisit Your Favourite Places to Hang Out

We all had favourite places to hang out as kids. It might be your maasi's house where you got away with eating more snacks than usual or even the neighbourhood ice cream store that witnessed all your meltdowns and cravings during weird times. When asked about one such place, Gaurangi mainly spoke about the tradition she shared with her father, where they got ice cream together whenever she felt tired or down. She also talked about playing PS4 games like Hot Wheels in the living room of her childhood home in Agra. 

 5. Cook With Pa!

If you feel cooking alone is disastrous and will give the one doing the dishes today a headache, why not make it worse? Experiment with recipes, cry together while cutting onions and be proud of the final outcome even if it looks pitiful. This is a brilliant idea cause you can give your mom a break from cooking while simultaneously making it special for your dad! Adithi spoke about this in detail, but, there was one twist in the story here. Her dad is extremely good at cooking while she's a proud disaster in the kitchen. When asked why, she replied that she was a lazy noob who had no intention to learn because both her parents covered for each other whenever the other didn't feel like cooking. She, however, plans to cook during Father's Day this year. Maybe, you can accompany her too?

Are All Indian Dads Similar?

This was the last question we asked the team. Funnily, they all seemed to agree that Indian fathers loved and pampered their daughters more than their sons (which we can attest for 😝). The sons, unfortunately, often became the target of (sometimes unsolicited) scolding ;)

We hope this post was somewhat of a help to you. We wish you the best in your endeavour to plan this very special day for a very special person whose visible joy is even rarer than the blue moon.