Manmohan Tiwari, who is currently seen in Mishri, shared that he missed his parents the most when he first moved to Delhi. Speaking on the occasion of National Parents Day, which is observed on July 28, he said, “When I was in Rishikesh, studying and living with my parents, siblings, and family, the thing I missed most after moving to Delhi was that there was no one to wake me up in the morning.”
“My father was not there to pull back the curtains. My mother was not there to play the Gayatri Mantra loudly to wake us up. There were no birds chirping, no father's angry calls to get up and pray. All those things that seemed annoying in Rishikesh, like my father waking me up or my mother playing bhajans early in the morning, suddenly felt precious. When I moved to Delhi, I realized how important these things were. Living without them felt very strange,” he added.
When he came to Bombay, he understood the real value of parents and family. He said, “Here, no one cares who lives next door, and people don’t know each other for years because everyone is busy with their own lives. I'm not criticizing anyone; it’s just the lifestyle here. It's in such times that you realize the need for and importance of your parents. I believe the real struggle is not finding a job, but being away from your loved ones and then setting out for work.”
“When you live in your hometown, you feel like coming home in the evening; that's the importance of parents. Celebrating them is not limited to Holi or Diwali; their importance is every second, every hour, every month, and every day of the year. If a special day is dedicated to them, I would add that we should celebrate that day, even though we don’t celebrate them every day. And I will celebrate it too,” he added.
He further shared that he had understood their parents, and he doesn’t even want his kids to miss out on having fun with their grandparents. He said, “I try my best to bring my parents here because they are so important to me. I used to have a house in Malad, but now I live in Bhandup, near my in-laws, so my children can enjoy the company of their maternal grandparents.”
“My parents live in Rishikesh. Their importance to me remains the same as before, which is crucial. I live next to my in-laws so that we can get as much love, care, blessings, scolding, and protection from them as possible, saving us from our own carelessness. This is very important. So, the concept of privacy feels pointless to me when it comes to them. What privacy could there be from them,” he added.
Manmohan believes that people get so busy with their daily work that they forget to talk to their parents. “Sometimes we talk to them once a week, sometimes every six days, sometimes every three days, but we should make a constant effort to call our parents just as we never forget to check Instagram, Facebook, Netflix, TV, or the news, and never forget to eat. Similarly, we should not forget to call our parents,” he said.
“Once, my mother scolded me, saying that you hadn't found the time to call or message me in three days. That made me realize how much they definitely need love and care, just like small children. Now it is our responsibility to take care of them, and I do. I will tell everyone I know, everyone who loves me, all my friends, to give full importance to their parents, to pay attention to them. They need it. They have already given us everything they had to give,” he added.
He pointed out that in today’s times, parents try to become friends with us. “They change their appearance, their conversations, and even their experiences to connect with us. They’ve also joined Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Change is a part of life, and I don’t think it’s a bad thing. However, with these changes, the level of love should not decrease. The relationship we have with our parents, between a father and daughter, a mother and daughter, and a and a mother and child, should not deteriorate,” he said.
Manmohan stressed that parents should not be taken for granted. “We should show them our affection regularly. If they make changes to become friends with us, then it’s our duty to also make an effort to become friends with them,” he said.
What have you learned from your parents? “My father has always told me one thing: in any situation, you can only face it in two ways—happily accept it or cry over it. It’s important to understand that you can't achieve anything without effort. Just like they say, ‘You can't reach heaven without dying,’ you have to work hard to achieve anything,” he said.
“As I said before, if we have the desire to touch the sky, we must put in the corresponding effort and hard work. Only then can we achieve something. To win a 100-meter race, we need to prepare by running 150 meters or 200 meters. That’s when we win the 100 meters. My mother has always told me, ‘Keep fighting, keep pushing, keep working hard, and it will happen 101%.’ It’s like the famous quote I have been hearing since childhood: ‘We won't stop until we break through.’” he added.
Manmohan also gave advice for the current generation and said that they shouldn’t be careless with their parents. “Don't think, ‘I'll call them tomorrow’ when it comes to giving them love. I believe it should be a rule to talk to them in the morning, talk to them in the evening, and if you get time the next day, talk to them again. Never be careless,” he said.
“As they grow older, they become like our children, and now it's our turn to take care of them. I would just say that the ones who gave us our existence are our gods, and they are our first gods. Worshiping them, taking care of them, and looking after them should be our top priority,” he added.