Have Faith In Me, Dad!
Dear Dad, I’ve something to say to you. I’m twenty one years old and you probably still think of me as your little two year old who you had to walk down everywhere and sometimes carry in your arms, because I was small and you were being a doting father. There were times when you would let me fall and then get up while you sat on your sofa and pretended to be busy. I’ve learnt my biggest lesson about falling and getting up from you. But I’ve a query and it’s been bothering me ever since I was an adolescent.
When I was young, you would let me fall just to see me get up and start strutting again. At that time, apart from the lesson of falling and getting up, you were also teaching me another lesson which has stayed with me till today. The lesson was about taking chances in life–taking the chance of leaving my hand because you knew I’d fall. You took a chance at that moment by letting me fall and then taught me to get up. That lesson has formulated my whole life in a manner that now I am ready for the world. So my query is why don’t you let me to take chances now? Why don’t you let me fail and learn from my mistakes? Why are you depriving me of the opportunity of falling and standing up back on my feet to face the world? The only possible reason I can conceive is that being a parent, you are lacking faith because even after spending so many years of your life in making me a strong independent woman, you are not ready to take chances in my case. You are not even allowing me to take chances, because you are afraid that I’ll fall and I wouldn’t be able to stand up back. You are afraid that I am not equipped enough to handle the illness that’s prevailing in the society and that being a woman, I’m not safe.
Don’t get me wrong, dad! You have been a wonderful father throughout my life and I couldn’t have asked for more. I’m not writing this letter to make you feel like you have lacked in fulfilling all your responsibilities. The purpose of writing this letter is to make you realize that I’m twenty one and I’ve grown up. Being twenty one I should be taking chances. So I’ll take more risks in life and even if something goes wrong I will come out strong. I don’t want to blame you entirely for your reactions when I want to drink at a party or when I want to travel alone in a train at night or when I want to take a cab back home. I know these reactions are not of a prudent man who lives in an independent society but of a helpless father who is well aware of the evil of misogyny that is rotting the roots of our society. Dad, I want you to understand that by curbing my freedom, you are feeding this evil. You are boosting its power and telling it that it is stronger than your daughter. And if you keep feeding it, then I will never win. I want you to let me make these mistakes and take my chances. I want you to have faith in me because in the end, if you support me without succumbing to the societal notions of how daughters are to be kept and treated, only then I can conquer the world. Your faith in me matters, daddy. With Love, Your Daughter. –—————– About the Author: This article is contributed by Rashmi Bagri, our intern. _________ Also Read: A Dad’s Speech at his daughter’s wedding, 8 Reasons Why You Should Have A Daughter
