Celebrating Father's Day: Five Life Lessons I Learned From My Dad

In times of crisis, if there is a man who always has my back; that man is my father. From cooking Maggie for me in the midnight hours to empowering me for a solo trip, I always found a best friend in him. When society shouted in his ears, ‘Don’t give that much freedom to your daughter’ he shut those comments, one at a time.

In Mockingbird, Eminem says, “I'm trying to give you the life that I never had,” which stands correct for my father as well. He always gave his best shot to give me the life that he never had in the first place. Our society sees a father as a provider, who brings food to the table and works hard to sustain a family. But for me, my father is someone who not only cooks the food but also works hard on his jokes to get me over a breakup.

Yet, there are days when I saw him angry, in distress, and sometimes even sad and numb. Watching my superhero like that taught me that he is a human, and like everyone, he is allowed to feel what he feels.

Five Life Lessons I Learned From My Dad

Be you, be different - That is your superpower

When every other girl I knew played with princess dolls, I was drawn to helicopters and trucks (also because they were old toys of my brother). My choice of toys was the reason kids made fun of me. But there he was, telling me that toys do not have gender, and I could play with whatever I wished to. Later in life, when I decided to be a writer rather than a doctor, lawyer, or engineer like my cousins, he had my back! I remember him saying, ‘She wrote what we all fear to think.' He was the man who changed the definition of “being different” for me.

Get a balance in your life

You know the person who always keeps the balance in life; my father is that person. He loved me more than his own life (the benefits of being a late child), but he always made sure that I didn’t turn out to be a spoiled brat. During summer breaks he never let me sleep in, we were supposed to wake early. As he said, “Oversleeping causes brain cell damage, while exercise adds years to your life”. Now as a working professional, I use this balance in life every single day.

Money doesn’t grow on trees - Earn Yours

I accept my privilege of being born into a well-to-do family, but that never brings me any kind of satisfaction. As I was always told that I had to earn my own to sustain myself. In recent months, when I started working I realised his motive for teaching me that. Though not enough to sustain life in a capital city, what I earned gave me satisfaction, a kind that I never got from family money.

Life is short, live every second

In the fall of 2020 when I had a heart attack, I lay on the white sheets of a hospital bed, realising how meaningless it is to cry over the past and live in the present. Dad always says, “Life is like lemon, even when you take all of its juice, you can still use it as a dressing” (chances are it's from WhatsApp forwards). Yet, today when I bravely stare back at life's most hopeless situations, I know it's because of what I learned from my father.

Have a Plan B - Always

You know when you are seated in the metro at 10-ish at night, and your mobile is dead from reading psyche research papers? No Cab! No Mobile! Perhaps wrong timing! In one of the world's most dangerous cities! What do you do? Yes, you use the full-charged keypad mobile which your father always places in your bag. Yes, that’s the man, who always has a plan B not only for the journey but also for the destination.

Dad, as I know you will read it, around 10 pm (yes, he's been reading my work since I was 13), a Happy Father's Day to you. Thanks for what you do and who you are. I am proud of you every single day and I am proud to be your daughter.

Views expressed are the author's own.