Mumbai: Powerlifter and entrepreneur Gaurii Manochaa, who has recently won four medals in a championship while representing India, shares her relationship with her father, Harish Manochaa. She says, “My relationship with my father is a mix of sweet and sour moments. Sometimes he loves us a lot, and sometimes he scolds us when we make mistakes. My father never sees a difference between a son and a daughter. If we are wrong, he scolds us directly, and he loves us just the same. I would also say that my father has struggled a lot since his childhood. He worked very hard to reach where he is today. That is why he always tells me to start from the bottom, just like he did, so that I can understand struggles and the value of money.”
Gaurii adds, “One thing I should have thanked my father for sooner is that he never gave me anything on a platter. He never gave me something ready-made and told me to just work on it. I learned everything from scratch by myself—how to do things, how to build a business, and how to lead my life. Of course, I take his advice whenever I have to make a difficult decision, and whenever I am wrong, he corrects me. But he always helped me understand how to do things on my own. Basically, he made me bold and independent.”
Gaurii also shares how her father never helped her in the initial years because he wanted to make her more independent. She says, “One thing about my father that I never understood earlier was why he helped and supported so many other people but did not help me in the same way. But now, at this stage of my life, I understand that it was actually one of the best things he did for me. Because he did not help me too much or give me everything on a platter, I never became dependent on those things. Otherwise, I would not have grown the way I did. I would not have understood the value of money, relationships, empathy, helping others, and gratitude. That is why I will always be grateful to my father for not giving me everything so easily.”
Gaurii also shares what she has learned from her father. “One thing that influences me is actually something that I would not carry forward. During our childhood, my father often ignored us while trying to make other people happy. That affected my mental health and my sister’s mental health, and it was not good for us. Yes, there comes a stage in life when children should do things on their own. But during the early years of life, children need their father just as much as they need their mother. In fact, they need both parents at every stage of life. The early years are especially important because that is when we learn how to grow. We learn from the people around us. We also learn that there should be no difference between boys and girls.”
In today’s fast-paced world, what do you think is the most important role a father plays in a child’s life? On this, Gaurii adds, “I think the most important role of a father is to be supportive and available during the early years of a child’s life. A father should not be busy with work or business all the time. He should be there for his children so that they never grow up feeling that their father was not present during their childhood. Secondly, a father should learn to say no. The word ‘no’ should be in your dictionary because if you never say no, people will take advantage of you. And when you are going through a difficult time or facing health problems, many of the people you helped may not come to support you. In the end, it is your own family that stands by you.”
