If there is one endeavour that actor Ranbir Kapoor wants to take up seriously, it is to break the “glass wall” between him and his dad Rishi Kapoor. “I have never had one-to-one friendly chats with my dad ever. He is with me the way his dad was with him. My endeavour is to get close to him,” he was recently quoted as saying.
Interestingly, new-age fathers are more of friends to their kids. Celeb dads talk about their bond with their sons and how they are breaking the old behavioural cycle and communicating better with their kids.
Ad man Prahlad Kakkar, father of three sons, says that he is “disgustingly friendly” with his boys. “We’re more like pals and share almost everything with each other. I know all their secrets about their girlfriends and their important decisions of life. With boys, one has to be liberal and friendly. They would never like you to intrude in their lives, but on the other hand, they would want you to support them as friends and not a father. I have never pressurised them and have always encouraged them to be independent. We share great times together, cooking food, enjoying scuba diving atleast once in a year, and go for a holiday like friends to keep our bond intact. There is no room for feelings of discomfort between us,” he says. Adding further Prahlad shares, “My father was a strict Army man. He was more like a teacher. He introduced me to scuba diving and horse riding, which are my biggest passions now. With my boys too, I want to give them the best of the world, but staying their friend.”
Agrees artist Sanjay Bhattacharya, whose one son is a painter, the other a tabla player. He says both his sons are his best buddies. “They started smoking with me, rather than other boys who would do it secretly. There shouldn’t be any wall between a father and a son. By way of staying friends with your sons, you can gain their trust and make the base of your relationship stronger. If you want to create that distance in order to garner respect, I don’t think it’s a right way to do. Respect is something that should come from within and one can’t gain it by creating a distance in a relationship. My father was quite strict with me, which in a way made me stubborn and spoilt. I never wanted my kids to have the same traits. I want to give them that space to confide in me for everything,” he adds.
But for artist Sudip Roy, there should always be a thin line between a friendly father-son bond. “I’m open and friendly with my sons Sumit and Sujat. I have given them the space to discuss their lives with me and they respect that. But I always feel that any relationship should have certain rules and limitations so that an honest bonding stays intact forever.”