There are two words in Sanskrit that mean ‘father’ and they are ‘Janak’ and ‘Pitaa’. Janak is he who helps a woman in the conception of a child, literally he who gives birth to a child. Pitaa, on the other hand, is he who watches over the child to see him grow physically, mentally, intellectually and spiritually. And the father achieves that by providing to his child both physical amenities (like food, clothing and shelter) and good education (in the form of culture, values, ethics, and morals). If we look around, we see many youngsters who appear healthy, wear handsome clothes and drive fancy cars with the latest cutting-edge technology on their ears but they are hardly ready to face the challenges of a competitive world in which they can truly survive. And, on the other hand, we see many other youngsters who are extremely pleasant in their demeanor but they appear undernourished and are school dropouts. And at the root of this unfortunate scenario is the fact that, among many reasons, their dad did not live up to the dual Janak-Pitaa role.
I urge everyone on father’s day to look both inside and outside and ask: Are we in society fulfilling our Janak-Pitaa role ( if we are fathers) or our Janani-Maataa role (if we are mothers)? On this day, our children will come to honor us with gifts, and with garlands and flowers. That’s a beautiful thing, but that alone will not truly fulfill the needs of Father’s Day celebration. We must honestly tell them whether we sought to provide them with both physical and value-based resources for them to become whole and complete human beings.
Happy Father’s Day. Namaste!
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