Parenting was a blog that I had written in 2005 / 06 cherishing everything my parents had done for me with whatever limited resource they had. They had lived a life that had set it up for me to take things forward. Let it be the friendship that my father cherished with his Ex-Serviceman colleagues / family or the many marriages my parents would fight each other for and get them done. They gave me the freedom to choose most of the things. Even now I fail to understand how open hearted my mother was when it came to me discussing about me and Chitra for the first time. She gave me the confidence to confide with her even before I could propose to Chitra. But if you ask me how that confidence came about, I do not have a clue.
Years later I went back to my institute to interact with the 12th standard students. Things have changed in many a ways from the times when I used to go to school.
We provided with a bi-cycle and courage to cycle through the 2 and half kilometer to school crossing a main road. Let me be modest here; neither there was no much traffic then nor was the traffic signal that you see today. My Mother would look through the window every evening when it was time to come back home. She was scared to send me alone but she did both when I used the electric train when I was in my 5th grade or the bike when I was in my 11th. No cell phones were available then. Now, Parents come and drop their kids (who would go on to vote in a year or two). They wait to get permission for their wards to attend classes because their son / daughter did not write their examination that was mandatory. The students then were more open and be loud with what they thought was right with the world in general but now the boys don`t manage to maintain eye contact. I felt really uncomfortable when a bunch of boys started to look down when I tried to meet their eye. It was just a friendly interaction. I get to hear that the boys being shy and timid is so common even with the faculty they know well.
Are the current batch of students (facebook era) so very different from what we (hotmail era) were? Why is that I feel there a strong connect between the first and the second para? May be I am making an assumption here and a broad generalization: The comforts that today’s parents provide and lack of quality time as a family that they spend is one major cause for students to not look at real people and see for a source of entertainment that may not be always real. My sample has been restricted to the bunch of kids I saw today. I need more time with more kids but I was really disturbed with what it felt like being one among them or seeing them.
The best of my friends are inspired and have been made in every aspect by their parents. One of my very good friends from my CAT preparation days would say that the independence and confidence her parents gave her always made her take the right choices in life. The Simplicity that another friend of mine (whom I have immense respect for) from REC exhibits is very much derived from his parents. He refuses to use a mobile even now though he is part of the value chain that produces the micro processor chips for a leading cell phone maker. He has two landline numbers – one at his office and the other at his home.
2004 December – I was amazed to see a bunch of kids just out of school taking responsibility and running to volunteer for tsunami relief work and that was quality 10-12 days I spent with them, I cherish even now. I also know of people who are trying to do a lot of interesting work who are much younger than me (gmail era) and much better off to face the world than I was / I am even now. For me the big question is, has things changed in the last 3-5 years? Hope it’s not as bad as I think.
Years later I went back to my institute to interact with the 12th standard students. Things have changed in many a ways from the times when I used to go to school.
We provided with a bi-cycle and courage to cycle through the 2 and half kilometer to school crossing a main road. Let me be modest here; neither there was no much traffic then nor was the traffic signal that you see today. My Mother would look through the window every evening when it was time to come back home. She was scared to send me alone but she did both when I used the electric train when I was in my 5th grade or the bike when I was in my 11th. No cell phones were available then. Now, Parents come and drop their kids (who would go on to vote in a year or two). They wait to get permission for their wards to attend classes because their son / daughter did not write their examination that was mandatory. The students then were more open and be loud with what they thought was right with the world in general but now the boys don`t manage to maintain eye contact. I felt really uncomfortable when a bunch of boys started to look down when I tried to meet their eye. It was just a friendly interaction. I get to hear that the boys being shy and timid is so common even with the faculty they know well.
Are the current batch of students (facebook era) so very different from what we (hotmail era) were? Why is that I feel there a strong connect between the first and the second para? May be I am making an assumption here and a broad generalization: The comforts that today’s parents provide and lack of quality time as a family that they spend is one major cause for students to not look at real people and see for a source of entertainment that may not be always real. My sample has been restricted to the bunch of kids I saw today. I need more time with more kids but I was really disturbed with what it felt like being one among them or seeing them.
The best of my friends are inspired and have been made in every aspect by their parents. One of my very good friends from my CAT preparation days would say that the independence and confidence her parents gave her always made her take the right choices in life. The Simplicity that another friend of mine (whom I have immense respect for) from REC exhibits is very much derived from his parents. He refuses to use a mobile even now though he is part of the value chain that produces the micro processor chips for a leading cell phone maker. He has two landline numbers – one at his office and the other at his home.
2004 December – I was amazed to see a bunch of kids just out of school taking responsibility and running to volunteer for tsunami relief work and that was quality 10-12 days I spent with them, I cherish even now. I also know of people who are trying to do a lot of interesting work who are much younger than me (gmail era) and much better off to face the world than I was / I am even now. For me the big question is, has things changed in the last 3-5 years? Hope it’s not as bad as I think.
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