Book Review - My Father Is A Hero

Author - Nishant Kaushik

Publisher - Srishti

Genre - Fiction

Pages - 199

Price - Rs. 195

First Impressions

True to its title, the book's cover welcomes readers with a humble picture of a father taking her daughter to school. Just like our fathers try to bear all our burdens on themselves, the father on the cover too, is seen carrying his daughter's school bag. Our parents are the guiding lights in our life, who hold our hands and show us the path...just like the father on the cover.

Since for me, my father is indeed my hero, I knew the book would be an emotionally enriching experience.

My View

Ask any girl about her picture of an ideal man, and she would often end up describing her father. It has often been observed that women often draw parallels between their fathers and partners, looking for positive qualities they have grown up witnessing. If there is one man who influences a girl the most in her life, he is her father. The sacrifices, the care, nurturing, guidance all make fathers role models for their daughters. After all, haven't we all heard phrases like "My Daddy strongest"; "My Daddy is the best"?

My Father Is A Hero is a touching story of Vaibhav and his daughter Nisha and the bond they share. Circumstances force Vaibhav into being a single parent. But the love for his daughter overpowers every other aspect of his life. For Vaibhav, fatherhood is not just a responsibility, it is his badge of honour; a role that empowers him to face any obstacle in life. Like all parents, Vaibhav too puts his daughter's happiness before his own. While we often witness kids being ignored by overambitious parents, here is a sacrificing father, who doesn't think twice before risking his professional growth for his daughter's career.

As one progresses through the story, one is touched by the simplicity and sacrificing nature of Vaibhav. A man of simple means, he foregoes his comforts and desires to ensure his daughter has a comfortable life and a bright future. With his own dreams long buried in the past, Vaibhav now has only one aim in his life - to make his daughter a successful singer. His obsession for fulfilling his daughter's makes him go to extremes

While destiny has been cruel to Vaibhav in terms of his profession and marriage, his daughter Nisha is the saving grace in his life. As they say in Hindi, "Doobte ko tinke ka sahara". A bright kid, Nisha too never ceases to acknowledge her father's sacrifices and tries to do everything to make him proud. Vaibhav fills her life with so much love that Nisha never feels her mother's absence.

It is not a story one reads to know the end, but a beautiful tribute to all the fathers who live for their children. While we all read various stories of sacrificing mothers, this is a unique story of a father who goes beyond than being a parent to being his child's role model. Being very close to my father, the book made me very emotional since for me too, My Father Is My Hero!

Hits

• Simple yet impactful narration
• The story strikes the right emotional cord without going overboard

I received a copy from Writersmelon in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

#ColgateMagicalStories

If there is one childhood memory each one of us have in common, it is stories. Yes, no matter where we come from, all of us have fond memories of story time. I still recall the many wonderful bedtime stories my sister used to tell me every night and how I would be lost in each story. While those days, fairies, kings and queens dominated the stories, the scenario is very different now a days. With each child having access to technology pretty early in life, getting a new yet interesting story each day is a challenge for the parents. Still, story telling is one skill parenting teaches you, whether you like it or not. Thankfully, internet and picture books have come to the rescue of parents like me.

Few days ago, I was approached to participate in the #ColgateMagicalStories contest. 

Since my son is in the stage where new characters, pictures and colours interest him a lot, I decided to weave him a small Sci-fi story which also gave a message. 

So, presenting the story of Alpha and Beta which my son enjoyed a lot...

Not only were Alpha and Beta intelligent, they were also known for their presence of mind, which made them popular for the toughest of assignments. Their father, Gamma too had been a successful astronaught, who had been a part of the Mars mission, the mission to discover more about the Red Planet.

This time, Alpha and Beta were out to know more about a certain Comet, which was detected by scientists of the Hubble space station. Uncertain about how to change the course of the comet, the senior astronaughts decided to send Alpha and Beta to find out a possible solution to change the direction of the Comet.

Cheered by their colleagues, friends and well wishers, Alpha and Beta set out on the mission. 

They hadn't yet completed their study, when one fine day, Beta sighted a UFO (Unidentified Fyong Object) passing by their spaceship. As soon as the UFO came near their ship, Beta began to receive SOS signals on his Radio. "There seems to be some trouble out there." Beta remarked. However, Alpha was suspicious. "What if they are some bad aliens trying to harm our planet?" Alpha warned. However, by that time, Beta had already left the space station towards the UFO. 

When Beta reached the UFO, he was surprised to see an alien. The alien introduced himself as Pluto, an astronaught from Mars who had set out on a mission however, had been attacked by a strange bacteria. The bacteria had made way into his dental system by making cavities and the teeth and gums were beginning to damage.  

Beta asked Pluto not to worry as he would soon give him a solution to his problem. He went to his space ship and returned with a pack of Colgate from his kit. "What is this?"asked Pluto. "This is Colgate...the answer to all your dental problems. At our planet, we swear by Colgate for keeping teeth and gums healthy. Just use it twice a day, once you wake up and again before bedtime and I promise you will even forget who that bacteria ever was!

Pluto seemed relieved now. "But what brings you here?" he asked Beta. "Me and my sister Alpha are on this mission to find a way to change course of a Comet that is approaching our planet. Our research is on, but we are yet to find a solution." Pluto smiled, "I think I can help you there my friend.   This is a special Hydrogen gun that will impact the Comet with such force that it will change its direction." Pluto handed over the gun to Beta. 

Alpha and Beta were now hopeful of finding a solution to their problem. As instructed by Pluto, when the Comet came in the right Orbit, Alpha fired the Hydrogen gun at the Comet. As if struck by a lightening, the Comet halted for a minute and changed the course. The Comet was now heading towards Mercury, a planet that was closest to the Sun and where no traces of life had bee discovered.

Alpha and Beta were given a grand welcome by their colleagues at Earth. A new example of friendship had been set between Earth and Mars and Beta was already ready to plan his next trip to Mars, but not without several packs of Colgate for is dear friend Pluto.

“I’m blogging my #ColgateMagicalstories at BlogAdda in association with Colgate.