Bonding on the move
On Father’s Day today, we speak to these jet-setter dads who are taking out time to bond with their kids on fun trips that bring them closer
By : namita gupta
Update: 2015-06-21 01:23 GMT
They can be your role models, your mentors or your best buddies ever. Non-communicative dads who were mere providers are passé, welcome the new age dads, who’re hands-on and how. They not only indulge in healthy conversations, golf and fun activities, but also take out time to take international vacations with their sons and daughters, sans the other members of the family. On Father’s Day today, we speak to city’s prominent dads who have taken interesting holidays that has helped them get an edge over bonding with each other.
Although Bengaluru-based Shanmugam Nagarajan, founder and CPO (chief people officer) 24/7 Inc. is a busy dad and has to travel to San Francisco frequently on work, he makes sure, he spends time to bond with his son Bharath and his daughter Ashi.
His 15-year-old-son Bharath, a 10th grade student at Headstart, talks of his first solo holiday with his dad, “We keep taking frequent family holidays, but I will never forget my first holiday to the Himalayas where it was only my dad and I. I was seven then and had seen snow for the first time. We also took out time to relax alongside our adventures. In the summer of 2015, we went skiing at the Ski Resort Livigno, Italy. Since I’ve done skiing before, it was fun giving tips to my dad.” Nags, his dad chips in adding, “Running a global company, I feel the best time I get is bonding with kids during our vacations. We visit many theme parks to locations of historical significance to adventure sports and cruises. Bharath is a history buff and an adventure junkie, and Italy offers both. We started in the Italian Alps and went skiing and then drove down to the south of Italy, where I showed him the magnificent art works of the masters. I learnt skiing just to have a common interest with the kids. My daughter Ashi is learning skiing with me as well now and this year she surpassed me in skiing. We also visit science and technology museums to keep the kids interests’ piqued and went to the Science and Tech Explo ratorium in San Francisco recently.”
Men are probably not engineered to sit face to face and talk about their feelings, that’s why these holidays, helps them take their chats flow naturally. Derek dSouza, director Technology, HomeLane likes to bond with his daughters Maya and Alex over a fishing line. “I use angling to bond with my daughters and the joy they exhibit tells it all. Angling is a challenging activity, which we enjoy and children who fish regularly score better. Sharing a fishing experience helps strengthen bonding with children. It’s a great feeling when you have to work as a team to hook, fight, land and release a fish and also teaches patience as I take them outdoors and away from all the electronic gizmos,” states Derek.
Another busy banker with a multinational bank, Sathish K Madhavan who has taken frequent solo trips to Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore with his son Pradyun, reveals, “My son gets a sense of achievement travelling solo with me, as I let him do all the planning and he is enthusiastic about visiting every tourist spot, which gives me an advantage of seeing more than what otherwise I would have.”
Fashion guru Prasad Bidapa adds, “I have taken a few trips with my kids. We went on a seafood trip once and neither of them as kids liked seafood and I ordered prawns, lobsters, squids and lobsters and by the end of our holiday, I had converted them to loving it.”