“You cannot raise two children alone”: How Suvendu Sarkar who never got a parent’s love became both mother and father to his kids

Image Courtesy: Instagram/suvendu5337

Single fathers often find themselves answering the same questions. Who helps with the children? Who manages school mornings? Who wakes up at night when a child is sick? Who remembers homework, doctor’s appointments and favourite bedtime stories? For many people, caregiving is still seen as a mother’s responsibility. Fathers are expected to provide, support and step in when needed. But for single fathers who raise their children alone, those roles disappear. Suvendu Sarkar knows this reality well.There are some questions single fathers hear repeatedly. Who takes care of the children when you are at work? Who looks after them when they fall sick? Don’t your children need a mother? Have you thought about getting married again? For Suvendu Sarkar, these questions have become a part of everyday life.

Today, the father of two shares moments from his parenting journey on social media. But the story of how he became “both mother and father” to his children is quite an emotional one.

“This was not the first time life had broken me”

Suvendu Sarkar with his son and daughter. ( Instagram/suvendu5337)

Suvendu was just 2 when a fire changed his life forever. “I was only two years old when our house caught fire and my mother passed away.” “After that, my father refused to take responsibility for me. At that one moment, I became an orphan,” he says. At an age when most children are held by their parents, Suvendu found himself moving between relatives’ homes. “Sometimes I stayed at my uncle’s house, sometimes at my maternal uncle’s house. That is how my childhood passed.”There was no permanent home and no certainty about the future. Survival became a part of everyday life. He took whatever work he could find. “I worked in a hotel catering for Rs 20 a day. I also helped manage my maternal uncle’s medicine shop.”Yet somewhere amid those struggles, he held on to one dream. “At that time, I had only one dream: to get a government job. I worked day and night, and in 2011 I finally got one.”

Life seemed to be settling down but then…

For the first time, life seemed to be settling down for him. He got married in 2015. Soon, his family grew with the arrival of his son and daughter. “Then my son and daughter were born. We were a family of four and life was full of happiness.” Then came 2021. The Covid pandemic took away millions of lives and changed millions more. For Suvendu, it changed everything. Speaking to The Better India, he said, “Covid came in 2021 and took everything away from me. My wife passed away.”His son was just one and a half years old. His daughter was only six months old. He recalls, “At that time, I looked into my children’s eyes and gathered myself together.”

“You can’t raise two children alone”

Suvendu Sarkar with his daughter and son (Instagram/suvendu5337)

People around him had doubts. Some said that raising two children alone was impossible. Others advised him to remarry immediately. Many believed that children need a mother because caregiving is considered a woman’s responsibility. Suvendu didn’t follow the advice. “Whether it was waking up in the middle of the night, calming them down or taking care of their needs, I learned everything,” he says.He learned to soothe crying children. He learned feeding schedules. He learned doctor visits, school routines, packing lunch boxes and managing work alongside parenting. The responsibilities that society often assigns only to mothers slowly became his everyday routine.Today, his son is six years old and his daughter is five.

Along the journey, he found another purpose

Suvendu began sharing his life on Instagram. His content is built around daily parenting moments with his children. Perhaps that is why his story resonates with so many people. Because behind every smiling video is a man who understands loss. He says, “Since childhood, I never understood what family truly means. “I never received a mother’s love or a father’s love. My wife is no longer with me either.” But he no longer sees himself as alone.“Today, I am not alone because I see my entire world in my children.” His journey also challenges a deeply rooted belief: that only mothers can nurture children. Fathers are often expected to provide financially while mothers handle emotional and daily caregiving responsibilities. But single fathers like Suvendu are quietly changing that perception.

“I know that no one can fill the place of a mother”

He does not claim that he can replace a mother. He knows some absences stay forever. “I know that no one can fill the place of a mother. But if a father truly tries, he can become his children’s entire world.” Further, he says “I want to show the society that not only a mother, but also a father, can manage household chores, take care of children, and handle a professional career all on their own.”There is something deeply moving about his story. A child who grew up without parents became the parent he himself needed. And today, through small videos, school runs, bedtime stories and everyday acts of love, Suvendu Sarkar is showing thousands of parents that family is not always defined by how many people are present.Sometimes, one parent who refuses to give up can become an entire world for two children.