Men are usually blamed
of being a bit stingy in expressing their affection towards their children. Truth
is that a father loves his child as much as the mother, only that majority of
them are imprisoned to the ways of the world that dictates that the male stays
stoic at all times. Given such circumstances, a father’s love epitomises itself
quite clearly in one word – protection. And it is for this precise reason that I
fell in love with the sculpture Parental Protection by Lladró: it most
handsomely depicts the vulnerable side of a man sans drama.
When I think of the men
who are vulnerable around me, my mind instantly draws two men from the assortment
of my mental faculties – Ali Zafar and Subi Samuel. Both are not your ‘typical’
men entrapped within the clichés of the world. They are publicly expressive of
their love to their children, as they are utterly devoted to them.
Ali knows that your
children need your presence more than your presents, just as Subi knows that the
trouble with learning to parent on the job is that your child is the teacher.
Ali knows that the two
lasting gifts he can give his children are stronger roots and freer wings, just
as Subi knows that no matter how grown up they become, or how different, he
would always remain their preferred toy.
Their children are
their coveted sculptures, the finest representation of parental protection in
real time, in flesh and blood, in concrete and creative form.
Ali with his son Azaan
