Something Jaya Bachchan said on Koffee With Karan yesterday really struck a chord.

She said everyone spoke of Abhishek Bachchan as Amitabh Bachchan’s son. No one ever called him Jaya Bachchan’s son. She was most irritated that her role, and it is a big one, had never been acknowledged.

That struck a huge chord. As the mother of a four-year-old, I can already feel the pinch.

I’d really like to know:

Why is the identification with one parent, the father, so vital?

Why is the father’s signature vital on documents? Why won’t the mother’s signature, or either parent’s signature, do?

Why does the child always have to take the father’s surname?

Especially when, in most cases, it is mother -- working or otherwise -- who plays a major role in the nurturing of the child?

I'm not saying the father is not important, but why negate the role of one parent -- and that too the parent who, I believe, has a much bigger role to play in the child's life?