Cultivating a Father is an American memoir written by Arjun Sen and published by iUniverse in 2009. Sen wrote it as a Christmas present for his daughter Raka Sen. The book focuses on Sen's relationship with his daughter when he was eight years old. Raising Father is widely regarded as inspiring writing that helps other fathers understand the needs of their children and how to have a strong relationship with them.
Video Raising a Father
Plot
The story of Sen begins the day after September 11 and the destruction of the World Trade Center. Forced to take the next day from work, Sen uses his spare time to ask his daughter what she thinks of their relationship and she says, "no good." Challenged, Sen asks her to explain, and she says that she does not really know her. She gives him a quiz of three questions: "Who's my best friend?" "What's my favorite restaurant?" "What's the best thing you and I have ever done?" Sen got the third answer wrong. The results of that conversation launched him on his way to befriend his daughter and become a wiser and better parent. He quit his job as Vice President of Marketing and started a home-based business that would allow him to invest more time and attention on his daughter. Sen notes that she does not want to be one of those parents who gets two phone calls a year.
This memoir devotes some space to the memory of Sen's childhood in India and the lessons he gets from his paternal grandmother. Strict discipline and commitment to his education inspired him in raising his own daughter. One day, Sen who was born in Hinduism, found herself wondering about religion. To her surprise, her grandmother did not firmly advocate Hinduism. He described it as a "way of life" and not a religion. Everyone should find a religion and a way of life that suits him, he said. In reviewing his performance as a father, Sen refers back to his own childhood and the example given to him by his own grandmother. The memoir went to immigration Sen to the United States. He arrived in 1988 with US $ 320. Fifteen years later, he was widely regarded as an important voice in the world of restaurant marketing. From here, the book returned to Sen's moments of awareness that he did not know his daughter well enough.
Maps Raising a Father
Composition and Publication
Sen originally wrote the book for his daughter Raka as a gift for her birthday. Later, when he decided to publish, he reviewed the stories with him and together they chose which one would go into the printed book. Sen says that it is a collaborative project, for the most part. In a radio interview, Sen says that he and Raka intend to inspire one parent at a time with their experience. After the publication of the book, Sen began giving lectures and interviews, based on the observations he made in the Cultivation of a Father. Sen also followed up the book with an online blog that expands on several book themes such as how to keep in touch with Raka when he attends college.
Themes
"Raising A Father" deals with the struggle to balance work and successful parenting and the special struggle to become a single father. Although some media coverage saw the Christian message in the book, Sen said that "Cultivating a Father" is non-sectarian and written for everyone.
Sen stresses the need to really get to know one's children, not just make assumptions about them. In describing his book, Sen said on Asian TV that he had a moment of discovery when, in searching through his daughter's closet, he found a cache of photographs depicting his mother. His regret that he hid some of his identity from him informed many of his parenting decisions since then. Sen describes moments like this as a "wake-up call" that parents need to pay attention to. The book also asks parents to set a way to objectively measure the quality of their relationship with their children - just as they will measure the success of a business or an employee. Sen describes himself as a former "addict" for work and he sees work addiction as one of the worst things that can disrupt good parenting.
Reception
Cultivating a Father received substantial media coverage in the United States and in Asia. In two parts of the "Face to Face" series on Asian TV, Vikas Nangia's interviewer featured Sen on Father's Day. Nangia described "Raising the Father" as "doing very well throughout the United States - a matter of fact throughout North America." During the interview, Sen explained the title of the book. When he was half-way to write it, he found, "It's not a girl who needs to be resurrected, it's a goofball father." Nangia notes that this book is not just about Sen, but the book captures universal experience as a parent: "This could be the story of your home."
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments