Let your children be your best friend – Uttamkumar Isurdeen

By Shemar Alleyne

On Father’s Day, much of the world takes the time to appreciate the work of good fathers. A good father makes all the difference in a child’s life since he is the pillar of strength, support, and discipline. His work is endless, and often, thankless. But in the end, it shows in the sound, well-adjusted children he raises.

One man who has been demonstrating these pillars and more is 35-year-old Uttamkumar Isurdeen. He has been defying the odds and making the proverbial lemonade with the lemons that life has been consistently throwing at him.
Reminiscing on his time growing up, Isurdeen said he was privileged to grow with both parents, but his father spent most of his time in the interior working, and as such, he did not get to spend much time with him. This, he says, has motivated him to think differently and to spend much quality time with his son.
During his earlier years, Isurdeen attended Huis t’ Dieren Nursery and Primary Schools before transitioning to Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary School. He graduated and right after, became a teacher at the Western Hogg Island Primary School.

On September 22, 2008, while he was just 23 years old, Isurdeen got married to Sharon, and they got a bouncing baby boy – Narindra Isurdeen, who will celebrate his 11th birthday in a week. When asked about being a father, Isurdeen explained that this was a “once-a-lifetime achievement” and he was lucky to be a father.
“I am lucky as a father; I have a son, and that actually becomes like a daily job because, as a father, you want to get things done like getting your son to do the necessary things that he has to do. Every day, I try to instil good things in him; it’s like what I lapsed in my younger age, I don’t want him to lapse in,” he said.
This vibrant father had many goals and plans about showing his son that relationships and family are the most critical things in the world once you make them the priority in life but on Saturday, February 27, 2010, his dreams and hopes for the future were snatched away after being involved in an accident.
He sustained damage to his spinal cord, but this young father of one has refused to allow this unfortunate accident to dull his light or hinder him from ensuring that his son becomes that well-rounded individual.
“I am very thankful for my wife as she helps me to balance things, and I am anxious to be a father, because I want my son to be the best human being. He must achieve as much as he can. I try to do as much as I can so that he must be fully equipped if I am not around,” he explained.
When asked what he loves most about his family, this vibrant father responded in the positive. He said, “We are very humble, we are very contented, and we always try to be happy as much as we can, because there are all kinds of things in life, and despite being a survivor, we say you know what? Every second counts for us.”
When it comes to school work, the parental responsibilities are shared, as Isurdeen, a former teacher, stated that he would usually assist, and his wife would also help, given that she was a secondary school teacher.
“We try to come together and make sure that his homework is done, we try to assist him, and we try to encourage him to revise before he goes to bed and even read a book, do research and remind him to be focused and not too absent from school,” Isurdeen explained.
Though he admits that he is not the perfect father, he endeavours in his doings to teach his son the true meaning of a father and would usually use his late grandfather as a role model.
“My grandfather was a positive role model, because he did all kinds of things, and I was with him a couple of years, and we had a garden, we had rare cattle. He always had me busy, and he was a true gentleman around the community. Everybody respected him, everybody spoke about his legacy because he took part in everything,” Isurdeen revealed.
This avid cricket lover, who has been an active voice for wheelchair users across the country, stated that his son started playing cricket at age four, and he feels the positiveness in his response to the game.
Isurdeen’s advice to fathers is to be an inspiration and “let your children be your best friend.”
“As a father, let your children be your best friend, monitor them, check on them, be concerned with them, get in touch with them, be close with them and try to pass on all the ideas to them,” he concluded.
To celebrate and recognise the contributions fathers and father figures make to the lives of their children, the third Sunday in June of each year is, therefore, set aside as the time to celebrate Father’s Day.