Written by: Omair Alavi

Once a neighbour told my father that your son (that’s me) climbed the wall of their garden to fetch the ball that went in as a result of a cricket shot. My father politely told him that my son can do many things in the world but climbing wall is not one of them, as he is afraid of heights. That’s how good your parents know you. No matter what you think, they are always one step ahead of you mostly because they have seen you grow from a baby to a grown up. They know why you do most of the stuff you yourself don’t know, and if you turn to them for advice, they will give you the perfect advice because of their experience as a person, and as a parent.

That’s why I find the claims of our Chief Justice extremely hard to digest. How can a father, who has seen his son grow from a baby to a man, who has been a proud father until the scandal broke, and who spent nearly two years at home as the country’s deposed CJ not know what his son was doing behind his back. What was the actual business of his son, why did he make trips to European countries if he had no business and what was the nature of his relationship with business tycoon Malik Riaz. Is it true that he couldn’t have known that his own wife and son were on a shopping spree while he was conducting cases of utmost importance in the country! How is it even possible that the son of the most powerful man in the country was enjoying a lifestyle of a King, despite his father’s claims that he doesn’t own a house or a car!

A friend of mine once told me that his father was in the wrong business as he would have become a great detective instead of a failed salesman. He based his theory on the fact that whenever he went to ask him for money, he knew exactly the amount I would ask, why I would ask for that amount and what will I do if the amount is not given. That’s the way a father reacts to his kid in Pakistan, or that’s the way it used to happen in my time.

The parents of today are flawed in my opinion, as they don’t care what their children are upto. That’s the reason why we have coaching centers where the children are dumped daily so the parents can attend important stuff. May be that’s one of the reasons why most of us spend time with them on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day only. The ones still on the righteous path are the ones who spend their Parents’ Day everyday!