As writers, we create characters. And for the most part, those characters are human. They have families too.
Today, I want to celebrate the fathers that I have shaped, within my writing.
When I began writing Marriage Unarranged, I knew there would be a father or two in the book. After all, Aashi is a very family orientated girl, and hers would be a key character.
My characters, generally aren’t based on a specific person, but there may be different elements of people I’ve encountered along the way that make their way into the personailities I create.
Mohinder, Aashi’s father, or Daddy-ji, as his children lovingly call him, is heavily based upon my own dad. There are differences, but the essence of my Pops is embedded within this character.
I loved writing him, and as the book grew, so did his part in it. Mohinder was the elder voice of reason. He was the calm, understanding parent, compared to the more traditional, and often fraught Harjit, a typical Indian immigrant mum.
Ravi’s father, Harpal, is a a rather hen-pecked individual, who is used to his wife Gurmeet, taking over everything. I felt that there needed to be a character who felt the shame of his son’s dishonesty. Had Aashi married into this family, I am sure he would have been a fantastic father-in-law.
Right now, I am creating a rather different father figure, within book two. One who has tunnel vision where his children are concerned. Less emotional, more concerned with his business and how his family come across to the world. Dev Tagore is the father of Milan, an up and coming fashion designer in Delhi. He’ss quite hard for me to write, as he is nothing like the father I have had, and one I wouldn’t wish upon any child. But fathers like that do exist. Here’s hoping he sorts himself out by the end of the book!
So, there you have some of my fictional fathers. I’m sure, in my created world, they are all celebrating father’s day in their own ways.
Is there any literary father that has stayed with you, in any books you’ve read?
If you want to meet Mohinder, as well as many other colourful characters, click here to check out Marriage Unarranged.
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Ritu Bhathal 