Editorial

Father’s Day: A day to reaffirm Caring and Compassion

Opinion | Editorial | John S. Shilshi | 15-Jun-2022

Come June 19, and the world will be celebrating Father’s Day in different ways. Social media platforms will be abuzz with messages of greetings and wishes for long life and happiness to individual fathers, and also in groups that include fathers. Companies dealing in cards, gifts and souvenirs, such as Hallmark, Archies, and others, using quilling process to make cards, would make millions of dollars as wives, children, mothers, brothers and sisters would be on a buying spree – purchasing cards and gift items to honour the fathers in their respective families. Even local businesses would find some opportunity to make a buck or two. It would be a day when fathers around the world would be feted and praised.

What are the origins of this celebration though? In traditional Christian societies, the feast of St. Joseph was celebrated as a day to honour fathers in the family, since Joseph was the head of the holy family. This solemn occasion began as early as 1479, amongst Catholics, and later spilled over to the Lutheran and Anglican Church members as well. But it was not until 1910, when American Sonora Smart Dodd advocated the celebration of Father’s Day, that the significance went beyond being a religious one. Sonora Smart Dodd, one of the six siblings brought up by a widower-father in Washington, mooted the idea to honour fathers in the same way mothers were celebrated on Mother’s Day.

However, news reports suggest that at that point in time, American men were against the idea of being presented with cards and gifts and showering of love and affection, which they perceived was meant for the weaker gender. However, despite the reluctance shown by a section of American males, Dodd’s idea finally fructified into a norm when in 1972, President Nixon accorded official sanction to celebrate Father’s day on the third Sunday of June every year. Dodd unfortunately breathed her last at the age of 96, six years after a holiday status was accorded to Father’s day, therefore didn’t live long enough to witness all the fanfare and the extravaganza associated with Father’s day celebrations across the world. But she did die a happy person because her wish to honor fathers finally became a reality.

Factually therefore, the Father’s day of the modern era is very much an American phenomenon. But today, it is celebrated in more than 70 countries with similar enthusiasm and fervour, or may be even grander than what the Americans do. The popularity and spread of the occasion as a global feast was mainly due to the acquisitiveness of corporate houses. Companies manufacturing gifts items and cards, saw to it that they pushed aggressively in order to tap the global opportunity, just as they did in the case of Mother’s day, Valentine’s day etc. Most importantly, the idea easily found resonance amongst the Christian world. Besides the opportunity to dedicate the day to all fathers in their families, it was largely perceived as a day to honour Joseph and the unnamed father of the prodigal son in the Bible - both personifying model fathers capable of providing protection, caring and compassion.

It is regrettable that in every occasion that we observe in this modern day, values, solemnity and sacredness are compromised to a great extent, with greater importance attached to the material world, and the trends regarding Father’s day observance is no different. The value of gift holds greater importance than spending quality time with each other, communicating, sharing and understanding each other’s needs and compulsions. In other words, the real human connect is missing. Fathers, like mothers, are the pillars and backbones of every household, the spirit behind the idea of any home. They provide, protect and care and strive to ensure continuity, stability and sustainability. Their sacrifices are immeasurable, their commitments unparalleled. Besides being biological fathers to their own children, they are father figures to many others in society, who need help, care and compassion. No matter how and in what scale people celebrate, it is only befitting that the world is setting aside a day to honour fathers. It is a day to remind them that they are loved, and that the family and society need their care, compassion and contribution.

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