Like Father Like Daughter
Everyone wants to be a winner, but what most people don’t seem to realize is that first you need to be a survivor. Do you have what it takes to survive? Can you claw your way back up when you’ve been pushed down farther than you ever thought you could? Do you have the endurance, the stamina, the wits, the passion for your craft?
I know this much about myself: I may not be the smartest, the prettiest, the funniest, or the sexiest girl, but I am a survivor, I have ambition and I have guts. I believe that those three things are all that I need. I don’t know where I’m going, but I know I’m going somewhere. I think largely the reason why I have this spirit is because of how I was raised. I was the third child, and I was a girl (third daughter). I think everyone wanted me to be a boy and as I grew up I wanted to be my father’s son and really admired my father very much and I still do.
He moved his whole family to Canada without even ever seeing this country. We just packed up our stuff in Singapore and came here. He didn’t need to come here to check it out first because he knew that no matter where he went, he would be ok and he would be able to provide for his family. As my father said (in punjabi) that he had his hands and his legs, what more does a man need to survive? That stuck with me. Sometimes people look down on immigrants, or they look down on people who don’t have flashy jobs. My father could have been a businessman, a taxi driver or janitor… I really wouldn’t care because whichever job it is, he’s worked honestly to provide for his family and no matter what has knocked him down or came his way he persevered. That’s what counts. Some girls I know are looking for the guy who has it all… I’m looking for the guy who would be ok if he lost it all, who has a fighter’s spirit, who doesn’t need to depend on anyone but himself, someone who is a honest, hard working man.
My father had the guts and the belief in himself to leave his relatives, his friends, leave the country that he was born and raised in to come to a country on the other side of the world so that we could have a better life.
He taught me how to be strong, he has a black belt in Karate and used to train me when I was younger. We would go to the park by our house and run and I used to have to do push ups if I didn’t speak Punjabi or got my times tables wrong. He read me stories about the Gurus, about Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s travels and teachings and those really stuck with me and it’s why I’m close to my faith. He taught me not to take shit from anyone, how to fight back. He also taught me how to have fun, he has a great love for dancing and when he gets on the dance floor he is the center of the party! He never once made me feel that I was a lesser human being because I was a girl. He never once has forced me to do anything at all and he never would. He has said that he would happily continue to support his daughters if we so chose to live at home forever. He’s allowed me to do the many things that I do.
Guts, ambition, survival skills.
That’s the kind of father that I have, now would you expect his daughter to be anything less?
