Father's Day: Unraveling the relationship between a father and a child
Prathiusha P 
The Book: Giggy and Daddy
Every year Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June, which happened to be on the 15th of June this year. Father’s Day was started to honour love, loss, and grief. Over time, it became a day to celebrate fathers, to acknowledge their efforts to bestow a good life for their children, for being the support system, and for being the light to guide through the darkness. To honour such a beautiful day, Children’s Book For All decided to read Giggy and Daddy as a community to talk and unravel the relationship between a father and a child. Giggy and Daddy, a book written by Richa Jha and illustrated by Mithila Ananth is a heartwarming read that sheds light on the narration of a bond between a father and his daughter owing to a sense of being left out.
Note before reading: The community consists of people who come from different backgrounds and hold a million stories through their respective life experiences. This read was special because we had a reader who was all set to welcome their baby, readers who were grieving the loss of their fathers, readers who shared a beautiful loving relationship with their fathers, and readers who had absent fathers while growing up. As a community, all emotions, from love to grief, were welcomed, heard, given space, and shown empathy.
An art created by a participant in the reading
A Question to Answer
“What does the word ‘father’ stand for you?” - A reflection question asked before the reading
Before starting the book, as a part of an activity, we pondered over the question ‘What words come to your mind when you think of the word Father?’. There was a flow of words and silence as we sat and listed down the wide range of emotions through words/ phrases ranging from silently loving, inherited traumas, pillar of support, patriarchy, emotionally attuned, anger, unlearning, etc. It gave everyone time to think about their fathers and the bond they shared with them. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions as we jumped into the enlightening read, decoding the bond Giggy shares with her father.
About the Book
The cover page of the book is a beautiful illustration of a happy little Giggy sitting on her father’s shoulders, who is sharing a smile and enjoying the moment. One of the readers shared, “Reminds me of when I was a baby, my father would lift me with one hand”.
The book is set with the father narrating his involvement in Giggy’s life even before she was born. This book is a tribute to modern fathers who freely participate in the process of raising children. Often, the role of fathers is overlooked while focusing on mothers for bringing the child into the world and nurturing them.
The book is a delightful, exaggerated narration of the role of a father in his daughter’s life to make her like him more than she does and to feel more involved in the parenting journey. He talks about having gone to the Super Dad’s School to learn all the important things that would help him be a Super Dad to Giggy, about the way she grew and came out of his pocket.
Giggy’s Daddy and the time they spend together
By the end of the book, Giggy realises that her daddy was trying so hard to be an integral part of her life. Giggy then takes turns telling the story of her real daddy, who spent precious time with her, reading her a book, dancing with her, and letting her create memories to hold onto. To Giggy, her REAL daddy is much more of a Super Dad than the man she found in the stories narrated by her daddy.
This book is incredibly profound, giving both parents and children something to appreciate and think about. Richa Jha’s fun and light storytelling and Mithila Ananth’s warm illustrations make this book a must-read for everyone.
Follow-up Activity and Thoughts
“If your dad wasn’t your dad, who would he have been?” - Another reflection question posed after the reading
While the book was a fun read, the facilitators gave the readers another question to sit and think about. “If your dad wasn’t your dad, who would he have been?” is something that you think of every day. A question like that wants you to jump into the likes, passions, and hobbies of your father that you might have known or observed throughout the time spent together. One of the readers expressed, “My dad would have become a lawyer - he was very interested in law. He also tried studying for a while, while working and managing family, but gave up as he couldn’t manage. I would have loved him to be interested in any form of art, though he is as far from art as anyone could be.” Another reader said, “My dad would have been doing something related to food since he loved food”. To quote another reader, “I think he would have made a good travel blogger/ tour guide given his love for travel and meeting new people.”.
Sitting with our emotions, we acknowledge that sometimes reality is far away from books, and so we seek comfort in books or some other art form and community. This reading session was to honour people who stepped into the role of fathers, caregivers, children who have lost their fathers, children with absent fathers, who had to father themselves, people with a complicated relationship with their fathers, those who are more than ready to become fathers, those who long to be that father figure to people without ever having been asked to, those fathers who adopt, and the fathers who pour in everything they have. May you find the safety net you have longed for, be the safe space for others, the same one you wished you had, and feel loved, not just today but every single day.
CBA community creating a safety net of sharing
This reading was facilitated by Arushi Ralli
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