Parenting and childhood

Parenting and childhood
By, Kalidas Sawkar
Published in Paths of Wisdom on Herald of April 12, 2011

The boy came to the teacher a bit disturbed. He asked with frustration “Why my father does not teach me, when he is supposed to have been a good student. The teacher first solved the boy’s difficulty and then said,
“Your father has had his own childhood disturbed by a variety of problems that occur in a family system. He was typically an individualistic boy. Such children should be guided and encouraged in honing their talents rather than ignoring or trying to divert their natural paths somewhere else. For a growing child, its life is too precious and when desired strongly their learning should be channelled even if they may possibly fail to achieve their goal. Failures become worst when they are not allowed to be experienced. Contrarily, they turn in positive results on child’s life. At best, they do not blame their parents nor become sadists when dealing with their own children.
When this attitude propagates across generations, the society itself suffers and turns highly conservative and corrosive. What was good for my father and me, is good for you, is the worst approach in dealing with new generations especially one which wants to branch out. This would make the family tree grow stronger and more robust like a banyan tree. In this age, with multiple opportunities old trades, careers and concepts change with changing environment. The world is accepting individualism in a pragmatic way without the bond between a father and his son being cut.
Sometimes, the inheritance of family trade and ideological concepts has to be cut to liberate the society from shackles of conservatism which happens to be a bane of this nation.

Source: Kaliyug ki kahania