MUMBAI: There is a saying that a mother can understand even what her child does not say, but sometimes fathers have to take the position and play the role of both a father and a mother for their kids. That's what actor Rohit Choudhary, who is making his Marathi debut with "Aamdar Niwas", did for his kids after his wife passed away. But having lost his mother at a very young age, he saw his father doing it as well, and it helped him when he was put in that situation.

"No one can take a mother's place, I can say that because I've gone through this feeling in my childhood and sometimes even now I feel it. But having said that I feel that while a father can't take a mother's place, he can play their role. Fathers are often not acknowledged for all that they do, but we shouldn't forget that they too sacrifice a lot of things for their kids and give their life to raise them. My mother died when I was a little boy, but my father raised us well. He had no money and was not well too, and faced many challenges but he never gave up and never made me or my siblings miss our mother. He was my father, my mother, my friend and everything for me," he said.

"When my wife died, my father went into depression thinking I will have to face the same sort of challenges he went through and forced me to get married again, but I told him that if you can manage everything even during such adverse situations, so can I. By that time we were well settled and had help to look after my kids too, so it was a little easier did me. My kids appreciate me for whatever I do for them, and they wish me twice every year, on Father's Day as well as Mother's Day," he added.

Though Rohit admitted that it's difficult to be a single parent, he feels sometimes kids start to take advantage of the situation, but he is thankful that his kids have always been very understanding.  "It's very difficult being a single parent because the house is dependent on a female, they run it, they know things better and play a major role in the house. So when my wife passed away, I realised there was a lot to do, I had to manage so many things at once. I realised we just earn money, and it's them who do ninety percent of work," he said.   "But I gave all my time to my kids. I made a schedule keeping in mind their routine, like school timing, games, tuitions, etc. However I must accept that sometimes when kids get that extra love, care and attention, they become very stubborn, but thankfully my kids never behaved like that, and were always good," he added.

Rohit also confessed that being a single parent one needs to be strict and lenient at the same time to maintain the balance.  Lastly, when asked how he would have celebrated Mother's Day if his mom was still with him, he said, "If my mother was here with me, I would have celebrated every day as Mother's Day, I would have done everything to make her happy. We are five brothers and a sister and I am the youngest, and once my business took off my father wanted me to support my other siblings too and I did that. I started supporting them financially, I guided them, and now they're very well settled."   "This would have definitely made my mother happy and proud of me. I would have never let that smile fade away from her face," Rohit concluded.