SC-S29/W4- Nostalgia Of The Liitle Me : People Who Shaped My Childhood
This week, I will talk bout childhood is not only about memories and places, but also about people. I have a lot to say on this topic, me, my father and my life. I will talk about my father who guided me, he cared for me but differently. He taught me lessons in a different way and left deep marks on my body, soul and mind. I will let my memories speak and ask my friends to tell about theirs.
Here are your questions and my answers:
01 Who is the person (or people) that shaped your childhood the most?
My father was the man who shaped my childhood the most even if I wanted to be a sportsman but he forced me to become a professional.
I still remember the outings on the field In the evenings after school, when I dreamed of cricket straddles. My nimble feet danced with the ball, echoing Ajit Wadekar, Sunil Gavaskar's grace under the summer sun.
I was in school team and my team mates cheered as I smashed sixes and fours and spun the ball, and whispered, “He’ll play for India one day.”
But my father, a stern engineer with endless high grading from his institute of engineering, saw no future in bats and balls. “Sports is for the idle,” he’d thunder, eyes fixed on my report cards. “You’ll be an engineer stable, respected.”
My dreams clashed like storms uproot the strongest of trees. I was shifted from playgrounds to tuition classes to one of his junior engineers, my bat gathering dust. I still remember the day when I was to be selected in state team but I was locked in my room.
Years blurred and my bat turned into a badminton racket, but my heart ached for the crease. One rainy evening, my father gave me a good thrashing but by then I knew he was against the games because one of his old photos suggested, he was a promising player in his youth, sidelined by his parents probably he thought that was the right line.
I believe he thought, “I pushed you to escape my regrets,” Maybe he did his job in disguise turning me into a marketing professional.
But I became both, a professional and a badminton champion in my later years. My father’s role might be hidden but he sure had a role in shaping me.
02 What is your earliest or most memorable memory with this person?
My earliest memory of Papa burns like the summer sun, in our courtyard or in others'. I’d play Kabaddi with other boys and girls my age, forgetting his rule: “Home before dusk, or else.”
I was late that evening, I crept back, heart pounding. Papa waited, belt in hand or was it cycle pump's pipe? His eyes like burning coals.
“Discipline forges men!” he bellowed, lashes stinging my legs. I cried from pain and shame, and his disappointment cut me deepest.
The Lash of Love, hehe!
Bruises faded, but his words echoed: “World chews the weak.” Again, maybe that thrashing wasn’t rage but it was his fierce love, forged in a future career's fire, what he felt will shield me from life’s whips.
Years on, he is no more in this world and me as a professional stitching wounds, I see it clear. Papa’s belt carved my spine straight.
Strict? Yes. But he never missed a chance to build me unbreakable. I remember the countless accidents I have gone through but none did me any serious harm. I am built strong. Thanks papa.
03 How did this person guide, support, or discipline you during childhood?
For me my fathers’ guidance was a blacksmith’s hammer, unyielding, shaping me through his strict discipline. Discipline came swift kind of a forgotten chore meant the belt’s sharp lesson, his voice booming, “Laziness breeds failure!”
No mischief escaped; he never missed a thrashing, etching responsibility into my bones. Yet support hid in the shadows.
Post-lesson, he’d support me my scrapes from forbidden escapades. I always thought, “Pain teaches faster than words.”
Let me say I'm forge of my father's firepower!
He denied sports dreams, funneling me to books and tuitions, whispering, “Stability over stardom.” His salary didn't buy me my first bicycle, but it was from my grandmother, that my mother used to bike in her childhood. My father gave me one when I was in 8th standard, not for play, but to pedal to school, my younger brother and me took turns.
But all this forged me what I am today, nothing much but whatever! More steady to face storms. Papa’s fire scarred but strengthened, his love was like burning flame, guiding me, supporting me indirectly through sacrifice, disciplining to defy my roots. Whose sacrifices? I leave it to you to decide.
04 What values, habits, or lessons did you learn from them?
From Papa’s unyielding hand, I learned discipline’s iron grip, first through welts from the belt, then as habit.
“Punctuality is power,” he’d drill, dragging me from bed at dawn for studies
Procrastination? Crushed early, I now chase deadlines like my habit that helped me as a marketing professional.
He taught me values like thrift over extravagance, his patched shirts teaching, my first full pant in 7th standard, my first dress full pant in 9th standard. He taught me "Wealth is earned, not flaunted.”
Honesty was non-negotiable, he was an engineer but no money under the table. A lie always was a guarantee of a sound thrashings. I grew from dreams to professional a steady path, proving sacrifice yields security. I am a self-made person but thanks to my father.
You know he taught us early wake up in the morning to tame chaos, I did that for clarity, regrets into resolve. His fire instilled grit into me with purpose, turning pain into hard work. Papa didn’t gift ease but he forged endurance, values in me that changed my life’s journey. I must admit, lessons in iron.
05 How does their influence still reflect in your life today?
Papa’s shadow stretches long into my journey. His discipline still sparks my early morning walks, discipline over drowsiness. I have his heritage maximum gain without waste.
That belt’s sting? They feel like echoes of an engineer's hammer.
It fuels resilience, rejections in marketing career is common but thanks to my father it never bothers me but I bounce them back like cricket balls or a hard smash of shuttle in the court of badminton.
Sure, his values still echo honesty in every thing I do, punctuality in market. Denied sports dreams birthed focus, marketing career, precision in dealing with customers, stresses into wellness his sacrifices whisper in family events I cherish.
Papa’s fire didn’t dim but it lights my path, turning boyhood thrashings into unbreakable stride even at this age when people don't dare to sit but keep lied on their beds, I still work for more than 10 hours a day.
Note:
One can get motivated in different ways so if I learned the harder way, I have no regrets!
All pictures from my album.
I invite @suboohi, @jyoti-thelight @lunasilver and @josepha to take part in this contest by @sohanurrahman
Greetings,
Thank you so much for participating in the contest.
You mentioned that the person who influenced your childhood the most was your father, and you explained how he shaped your early life.
Although he stopped you from following your dream of sports, his goal was to make you a stable and responsible person. Most fathers want their children to grow up as responsible human beings, and your case is not different.
You beautifully described the memories of spending time on the playground with your father, getting a bicycle for going to school, and sometimes receiving punishment. These memories reflect your father’s strict love and teachings.
Even though your father’s discipline was strict, it helped you build a well-structured life. You showed how strictness and love together contribute to strong character building.
After reading your post, it feels that punctuality, honesty, responsibility, patience, and sacrifice were important lessons from your father. Even today, his teachings are clearly reflected in your life. Your hard work, sense of time, responsibility, and honesty have created a strong foundation in both your professional and personal life, which is very inspiring to see.
0.00 SBD,
0.13 STEEM,
0.13 SP
Thanks for evaluation!
https://x.com/simaodev11/status/2020083144930783420?s=20
Today, for a snowflake generation, it's excessive. But that's how it was. My grandmother and my stepfather used to tell me: "I hit you because I love you."
Your father certainly left a great mark on you. He forged a strong man.
Thanks for the invitation, friend! 👍🏽🤩
That was how our previous generations thought but today parents would gladly let children play and chose it as a career, thanks!