human and parents: Parents and Hope

human and parents: Parents and Hope: What defines hope of parents? Is it based on critical analysis of the capability of your child? Is it based on aspirations your child ha...

My Time

Management guru Peter Drucker said,'There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all."

We are all stressed out because we feel we have no time for our self.We are depressed by the thought of not being able to do any thing for our dear ones, especially our children. We are guilty of not spending enough time with them.We can take credit of coining the new word"Quality Time" as this is the term that has been born out of recent scenario.

But have we ever wondered where our time is going? Most of us our not even doing much of house work but still are gasping for time. May be we are all guilty of what Peter says. 

So, take some time to check out what useless activities can be thrown out of your daily schedule to create space for self.

Gift of Time

The Hand that Gives is the Hand that Gathers

This old age statement holds true in all times. And mind you, we always do not have to think of giving in terms of money only, because though money is an important gift it is not most precious.The most precious is our thought and our time!
Yes! that is the gift we should give to those who have given their everything to us that is our parents and elders. Unfortunately we spend all our waking moment thinking about our children but are not ready to spend a few of these on our parents.Not realising that one day we will be in the same or may be even worse state.
Please do not put any age bar over my statement as this holds true at all times and ages. Each of us at any point of time our ignoring the needs of our elders. So do not assume that I am talking of some oldies, no I am putting this request in front of every child for their parents-age no bar.

Live It

Yesterday we talked about risking the life, today we are talking about living the life.

Can we just live the life on daily basis?
Can we just enjoy today without worrying about tomorrow?
Is it possible to accept all hardships of life as experiences and not ponder again and again on the most infamous question,"Why me?".

I personally feel that would be a wonderful way of life. if as parent I do not have to worry about my children's future, if as wife I do not have to worry about my husbands health and most important as human I do not have to worry about my own future!

But then I have got it all wrong! This is not what it says.When you live life as a journey where you are just travelling through a time phase, you have to get into a mode of doing best every moment. This best will be your best, it might not be in the given situation, but it is certainly your best!
And after that no thought has to be spared to it as you are again on the way to live the next moment!

Interesting but tough. Give it a try.I shall from this moment.

Risk It

Andre' Gide said,"One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time."

How many of us are ready for this?
How many of us have the strength to endure it?
Do we have right to take such risks when there are others who are dependent on our stability?
Who decides how much of risk is right?

My father

Thinking of Dr Vasani's fatherly attitude prompted me to write about my own father and other father figures that have been part of my life.  Perhaps, some fathers reading these posts might realise their importance. 

My father was a very handsome man – I watch today’s  Malayalam movies with Mohanlal and Mammootty, mainly because they are so reminiscent of that handsomeness – looks and character both well blended together.  My four brothers and my own son are all inheritors of those good looks.  (Of course, my mother’s brothers also have a contribution to make in the looks department)

My father was a very intelligent man who loved reading and books, movies and drama. 

He not only loved reading, he loved to talk about the books and the stories so that we were compelled to read it too.   I still remember the movie MY FAIR LADY.  Those were the days of the gramophone and LP.  He not only bought the record of the movie’s soundtrack but both Shaw’s Pygmalion on which the movie was based but  the print version of the movie script.  And then he would regale us with his own recitation of ‘The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plane’ or ‘why can’t a woman be more like a man’.  The latter particularly when my mother was in one of her whimsical moods !!

He was a story teller who narrated every story with a lot of songs and action.  

My son has a similar bent of mind – in fact when I visited him I found a copy of ‘Atma Bodha’ very similar to the one in my father’s shelf.  (I made it a point to get it from my sister and put it in my son’s cupboard.)

My daughter, though she spent very little time with him, has a similar habit – watching a movie and then reading the book.

One of my brothers has inherited this art of story telling. A lot of memories of Appa came flooding back when my brother told me about his new serial CODE RED. My mind flashed back to “A few good men” and when I asked him, my brother said that it was his connection for the title too. Well, that too is from my father. 

  

He was the one who nursed me through my chicken pox, the one who accompanied me to college and then took me out for a snack and movie on Saturday afternoon’s after college.  He came with me for my first job interview and made sure that I was comfortable at the work place.  He was the one who even taught me how to wear my sari – my mother always wore hers a few centimeters above her ankle but he made sure that I did not do that J

He had the same affection and fondness for all his eight children  and expressed it unhesitatingly.  Yet he never failed to punish us for any wrong doing either.   He lavished the same attention on each one too. 

While one never stops grieving for a father, nor do the memories ever go away, it is amazing how they keep coming back also ! A father too is forever.

Dr N V Vasani - a father figure

Dr N V Vasani

“Vidya vinayena shobhite’ – education makes you humble.  

A fruit laden tree does not shoot skywards – it only bends to the earth.

 

I had only heard of him as a great educationist until I met him before I took up an assignment with a school that was started by a leading industrial house in Gujarat.

His kind voice, his simplicity and smiling eyes were the most outstanding features, not to speak of his brilliant mind that could draw you out to put forth viewpoints  and at the same time put you at ease.  

For almost three years, I had the good fortune to sit with him atleast three to four times a year on various interview panels. 

That kindness, simplicity and smile were always there to put every candidate at ease. He ensured that not a single one was awed by his stature or wealth of knowledge.  Each one left the room with a sense of joy and success. And yet with unerring judgement, he would spot the right one and guide us.

Truly a father figure. 

He had been out of circulation for almost two years due to failing health.  My last glimpse of him was the beautiful, flower adored photograph only but I will always cherish the memory of the wise teacher.

RIP, Sir.