“Oh, it’s a girl!”
It is still the universal expressions that many parents of a new-born daughter still hear in India.
Even in the 21st century, our society mourns the birth of a girl child and that’s the ugly reason why no girl child was born in 132 villages of Uttarakhand in the last 3 months?
It clearly indicates how we are still murdering our daughters in the mother’s womb.
But, what could you expect from the society that considers daughters to be a burden, a temporary resident of the house until their marriage? In contrast, a son is considered to be life-long insurance?
But this inspiring father never believed that his daughters were any less.
While recalling his challenging life and his belief in his daughters, this father shared with HOB,
“I used to live in a small town in Gujarat, with my wife and two beautiful daughters.
My father had multiple businesses, and I’d grown up watching him create an empire. He was my inspiration. So I worked with him and had even started my own small IT firm. Things were going great!
I had big dreams for my daughters, and couldn’t wait to see them achieve great things.
But pretty soon, tragedy struck. Our business was losing money and we were running out of capital. We never thought that everything would come crashing down so soon, but it did. Overnight, we were on the streets… We had to sell our belongings to pay off our debt — from our house to every little piece of jewelry, it was all gone.
I was stranded, with the responsibility of my daughters and wife. I didn’t want the impact of this to hit them as hard as it hit me.
So I came to Mumbai alone, to try and arrange a better life for them. For some time I managed by staying at a relatives house. I’d leave at 7 AM and come back at 9 PM — I’d spend the whole day looking for work.
At the same time, I was also looking for a school that would admit my daughters.
I, at the very least, wanted them to get the best education. Through a few personal contacts, my daughters were finally given admission into a good school. That’s when I got them here. We didn’t have a place to house such a big family — so we had to live in a sanitorium for people without homes.
But through it all, my daughters were my strength — even for a second, they didn’t let me feel like I was letting them down.
And I knew that if I persisted, I would make things better for us. So I kept going and started a garment business. I’d spend hours searching for fabrics and looking for the best tailors.
Eventually, one of my father’s relatives asked us to stay with them. I couldn’t afford to pay them rent, so in return for letting us stay, I’d work for them over the weekends.
On weekdays I’d pursue my garment business, and for over 7 years, I worked every single day of the week.
I remember the day, when after going door to door for sales, I’d finally landed my first big client! I had finally cracked it! Soon I had started earning enough to stop depending on anybody else. It took some time but I even managed to buy a lavish flat for my family, just near the sanitorium!
Life has come a full circle for me. Today, both my daughters have joined the business and are taking it to new heights.
Despite having a comfortable lifestyle, I see them taking charge and giving it their all.
They have seen so many ups and downs, but no matter what, they’re determined to become stronger and greater — there is nothing more that I could’ve asked for.”