On Fri, Jun 14, 2013 at 11:20 AM, Indrajit Gupta <[email protected]>wrote:
> > From: Shoba Narayan <[email protected]> > > Ingrid, thanks. > > This is such a lovely piece, about fathers and sons. > > > > Love these lines: > > Like it or not, sons live their adult lives in a manner which is > directly or > > indirectly dictated by their fathers. We may either spend our entire life > > complying with our father’s wishes or rebelling against them. We may > either do > > exactly what the old man taught us to do, or do exactly the opposite. > But either > > way, the fathers of sons hold the reins from beyond the grave. > > > > Throughout the Indian part our childhood, our father was a person to be > feared > > and steered clear of. He was a hard and peculiar man – brilliant in his > own way, > > but driven by his own demons and completely oblivious of how his ways > affected > > others. > > > > I tackled our father in a very different way – not very original, but > effective. > > Atul met him head on – he gave him the middle finger and waited till he > could > > take charge of his own life. He did that much sooner than I did. But he > did not > > walk away a free man. The specter of not being good enough, for not > meeting > > expectations, haunted both of us. > And so, so dreadfully familiar...... > I've come across sociological studies about the large starring role of The Mother in the Indian's psche (Mother India, "mere paas maa hai", Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, etc.). Is anyone familiar with books/papers looking into the parts (big or small, heroic or villainous) Indian fathers play in their children's lives? Thaths -- Homer: Hey, what does this job pay? Carl: Nuthin'. Homer: D'oh! Carl: Unless you're crooked. Homer: Woo-hoo!
