My earliest memory of my father whom I address as “Papa”, is him holding me in his arms and lovingly proclaiming to me and to the whole household that he wants me to be an IAS officer . I didn’t know what an IAS officer was until much later in my life but in that moment and subsequently throughout my life, I have known that Papa would be by my side no matter what I do in life. In her Nobel prize speech , Malala Yousafzai thanked her father for not clipping her wings and letting her fly. In my case, Papa is
Growing up in a mostly nuclear family in the 80s in a small town of India, there was something different about our home. I didn’t understand it or thought much of it at that time back then. But looking back at it and analyzing it through the lens of time and middle-aged wisdom of a global citizen, I am mesmerized by the roles and dynamics of our home in contrast with society at large back then and even now . The day started with me and my brother being gently urged to wake up to go to school by Papa. With m
I remember once sharing our household’s morning routine with the mother of a close friend. It left her speechless and me momentarily confused about what was wrong with the way I was being raised. It was only much later in my life I realized that the reason gender never held much meaning for me in life was because I was raised in an environment of equal worth and was constantly reminded of “Apne Haath Jagannath” by someone who was practicing it every day. All my personal and professional relationships with m