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To the Elementary Graduates of 2020!

Wow! Look at you, from the ginger bread houses, you are now moving on to middle school. You may not realize this, but the truth is, your elementary school is the only school where you have spent the longest time. Every other school after this will be shorter 🙂 So graduating from elementary school is just as much a big deal as graduating from high school. This is where you learnt to how read, write, jumprope, run the mile, do pushups, play an instrument, make friends, say sorry and even tie a shoelace, so CELEBRATE YOURSELF TODAY!

I know amidst the pandemic and the era of Dr. MLK coming alive, we have written off the year 2020 as the year of negatives and it is hard to see the brilliance of yourself in these times, but at this moment, I want you to pause and think. Think of all the amazing experiences you have had. You Zoomed by, unlike any other class. There were no warnings, and through your sheer tenacity and resilience you navigated the world of online learning, completed every assignment, project without the “normal” and structure of your classroom. You grew up!

Growing up is a process and we slowly learn to grow up.
2020 is and will continue to be your learning moment. You never judge the book by its cover, so don’t judge this year by its face. It is true 2020 brought forward our worst fears. It literally slapped us in our faces, screamed at us and forced all the grown ups to acknowledge their failure. And we grown ups don’t like that. But You, the class of 2020, showed us the true meaning of “adapting to a situation.”

The class of 2020, You are Inspiring.

There will always be the question, “Am I doing enough?” The answer is YES. The middle school pathways are not going to define your success. You will. Here’s a little secret for you, we grown ups expect tweens and teens to write apps, build devices and find solutions to global problems, when the truth is we ourselves are mostly stumped. And because we are stumped, we are so afraid, we do what we know best – ask you to study harder. So my dear elementary graduate, don’t ask the question “Am I doing enough?” but rather tell the world, you are doing enough because you are being mindful and putting your heart into it. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong in learning to code, and write apps, and if that’s what speaks to you, by all means go for it. But if baking makes you happy, be proud and please do that. If experimenting with acrylic colors makes you happy, please do that. Every artist is a scientist first, the experimentation of different materials, the choice of colors, shapes and textures to convey a unique perspective, no textbook can teach you that. So dear elementary graduate, don’t be bogged down by the noise of math pathways and college admissions. It’s just noise. learn to zone it out and do your thing.

Middle school is when you build yourself one day at time. You will learn to manage your time so you are always ahead of it and not running behind it, you will explore new horizons and expand your interests and perceptions, you will learn to appreciate different perspective and accept without judgement, you will fail (yes it happens) and rise stronger and more confident, and most importantly you will learn to study. If you can do all of this, you will rock life and high school will then be a piece of cake, the grades will come and the much coveted college application will take care of itself 🙂

Dear Elementary Graduate – 2020 is not the year of negatives, but rather it is the year which forced us to pause, think and it is THE YEAR that will BRING CHANGE and YOU are the CHANGE MAKERS

CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2020!

2020, Let us retire the phrase “Working Mom” because Words Matter.

Words have meanings, and how we use them decides our thought, our bias and our purpose. Words are powerful and they have the magic to persuade us to try and think differently. I’ll give you an example, There are two teenagers, you ask the same question “Do you drive?” Teenager 1 says “No.” Teenager 2 says “not yet.” They are both conveying the same meaning, but Teenager 2 conveys “hope” to be driving soon. Big difference.

Academics train us to use our words carefully and yet it fails miserably. The world teaches us to hear words and yet never teaches us how to “listen” to them.

To listen to a word, we need to pause. It is 2020, there is no time for pause.

2020, is the era of The Woman. Is it? It is 2020 and here we are, still using the phrase “Working Mom.” When I was working and when I wasn’t and now when I am working again, the phrase continues to bother me to the core. What does a “Working Mom” mean anyways? Just because a woman has a kid, doesn’t mean she becomes someone else. It simply means that she is a woman who has a kid and a job, they are two separate entities, so why is it better or harder?

Many teenagers have a job at 13, do we start calling them Working Teens? When men become dads, do we call them Working Dads? If we have gay friends, do we introduce them as such? Then why do we need to define women? The sad part of this story is most women don’t find anything wrong with the phrase, and maybe it is so because it creates an identify for them. An identity that is superior to the SAHM.

The media created the phrase “Mommy Wars,” setting up the working moms against the SAHM and thus building the negative connotations. The working mom highlighted how hard it is and so did the SAHM. The working mom emphasized on how she never has time for herself and so did the SAHM. The SAHM said “she wonders if she made the right decision” and the working mom said the same. Both feel judged, both are overwhelmed, both feel they are taken for granted and they both love their kids more than anything in the world. See what’s happening here… Both women are saying the same thing but using different words and while they are hearing each other, neither is listening.

Ladies, we need to stop identifying ourselves as “working mothers” and the struggles we face. YES, its hard and yes it’s a mad rush to pick up from day care but it is also true, that the SAHM is working equally hard. Sure, she doesn’t have to make a presentation to the company board but that’s a choice she made, so let’s stop penalizing her for those choices and bring back the respect by letting a woman be herself.

Let us STOP calling ourselves Working Moms. We are simply moms who chose to get a job. That’s all.

To the SAHM – if anyone asks you “Do you work?” Please stand tall and tell them, YES, you have X startup(s) and X being the number of kids. They may still judge you, but you have conveyed the message and cleared your path. This is a tried and tested formula 🙂 Words matter, use them to your advantage.

Every woman values respect and while we are in control of our identities, it is also true that our identity is influenced by how the world sees us. Words matter. Let us use them to realign ourselves to think of every woman as just that, a woman.

I guarantee you the day we can end this divide is the day the glass ceiling will come crashing down. The day we bring back the respect to the SAHM is the day when WE all will rise.

… Another year over, and another has begun.

.….So this is November, what have you done? Another year over, and another has begun. A John Lennon classic adapted to myself keeps humming in my mind. It’s a sweet, gentle and yet such a powerful song reminding us of the minutes that just slipped by and here we are, right where we started.

Interestingly, the song fits into my life perfectly this year. 2019, It was just a normal year, and then in the blink of an eye, it reminded me of how fickle our lives are. Our ambitions, our dreams, our aspirations are all but a part of this magnum opus orchestrated by the Universe. We are nothing but a character in the masterpiece play of life.

This year has also been a test to my will power, resolve, strength and faith. In its own awkward way, it has shown me that the woman in the mirror can cry, but every morning she wakes up with nerves of steel and smiles through her day, trying her best to make a tiny positive difference in the world around her.

2019, you reminded me of the movie “The Ghost of Christmas Past” you took me through all the what if’s forced me to second guess yourself. In these moments of second guessing and seeing the ghosts of past, there were a few angels who held my hand and walked with me to show the bright future. These angels will always have my trust and friendship.

2019, you also reminded me of an old forgotten blogpost A friend; someone I can be silent with. I have been blessed with an amazing bouquet of friends that I cherish and yet 2019 was a poignant reminder of who I can call at mid-nite and who I cannot 🙂 When friends of decades closed their doors and friends of days opened them wide, I realized; friends sometimes, come in for a season only.

Friendships don’t end to those who we meet, they extend to our families too. We need to be true to them. Partnerships evolve and mature to go beyond the need of love to a need of companionship and acceptance. The entity needs love, respect, space to grow and most importantly it needs sacrifice. Sacrifice of self goals to fuel and nurture the other members in the family.

2019, you gave me a brutal reminder of what success means to me. I have always trusted my inner instincts. I live in a predominantly Indian community and there is no doubt that I am the black sheep in the Indian community here. I am the mom who says no homework is good, I am the mom who tells her son, if you have to cuss, please be on the field with your friends and no where near the classrooms or families. I am the mom who tells her daughter that her to be an artist is an excellent dream.

Defining success in our own terms allows us to see the impact at the individual level. We must be willing to see the differences we have made in our community, our careers, our workplace and acknowledge them. We as humans look for these big sweeping rewards for our efforts and thus making every effort worthy only if rewarded. This expectation of being rewarded creates a sense of unworthiness sometimes and is wrong at every level. We are being unfair to ourselves. Success is in our smiles, in our positive attitude, in our whistling, in our faith and in our belief of Pronoia.

2019, most importantly, you showed me I need to be creative. The act of creating kept me alive. The candles brought life back. The candles are not a business to me, they keep my soul alive. I also realized, the little changes we make, have this ripple effect that make a huge difference. The tiny act of changing the seasonal decor in my home, brought smiles one evening, reminding me who I am.

I was the little girl in the mirror, who always saw the world with a looking glass. Today, I am the woman in the mirror who knows there is no looking glass and yet to keep the magic and her smile she continues to believe she will find one.

The Alchemist found it, and so will I. Happy Birthday to Me!

The Pursuit of Perfection

I crave intellection
I reject objection
I demand correction
I resist reflection

I am Perfection.

Perfection, you are not the friend I met. You taught me to excel, you taught me to achieve but you always wanted more. Perfection, you make no mistakes and demand flawlessness. I try and try very hard, yet there is always something that could be better and no amount of effort is good enough. I despair and start doubting myself.The game continues and I start failing. I am angry, tired and alone.

The Perfectionist, we all know one. The one who is always critiquing others, the one who is always complaining and the one who seems happy but is rather caught in the cycle of perfectionism. The dictionary calls Perfectionism to be a state of flawlessness. Psychology calls it a recipe for disaster.

To be perfect is the quality that helps us set goals, achieve our objectives and in the process make us successful. When this need for perfection crosses the line from tasks to life, the problems start. Finishing a school project to get the perfect grade is very different from living a perfect life.

Humans are a complex matrix of delicately balanced imperfections to create the perfect and unique YOU and that’s how our life is, full of imperfections. So when we try to make it perfect we add this unknown stress on ourselves that it eventually leads to unhappiness.

Perfectionists will often criticize you to hide their own weaknesses.

Today, we live in a perfect world that is covered with a myriad of filters. These filters omit the blemishes and show us the flawless self which is liked and applauded. A 2017 study published in the American Psychology Association Perfectionism is Increasing Over Time claims two factors leading to high level of stress in the young adults of today. First the self imposed need for perfection and second a high level of self criticism. The perceived idea that my social standard is based on how perfect I am. This maladaptive perfectionism is a by product of social media. More likes translates to greater self worth and the reverse translates to low self esteem amongst the teens. The study continues to highlight how we as parents send mixed signals to our kids. We may say “I just want you to be happy and do your best” however our joyful exclaims when another student shows elite success translates to “I just want you to be happy and let’s keep those grades high so you too can go to the elite college.” This indirect parent push to “expose” their child to all opportunities, and then in turn measure their self worth by the success of their child puts undue pressure on the kids resulting in unprecedented high levels of anxiety, depression and eating disorders to name a few.

In today’s world we are constantly looking for goals and results. In this process we are losing our sense of wonder and enjoyment. In this race, yes we do achieve but we forget to enjoy. We forget that humans are a part of nature and nature has many imperfections. No two apple trees grow the same and yet in an orchard they are so perfect.

Imperfections are a necessity. These imperfections remind us we are human. Nobody is perfect may sound cliche’ but it is true. Imperfections are different and they stand out. They make a painting unique, they are unexpected and keep the surprise and awe alive in the world. Imperfections allow us to try again. The mistakes make experiments possible.

If we did achieve Perfection, where would we go from there?

Imperfection, you are intelligent too, have stories to tell and mysteries to solve and yet you gave me opportunities and taught me to try again. You told me that Perfection will always chase me, and it is upto me to run in the race or sit it out. You taught me to sit it out. Imperfection, you allowed me to breathe again, live again.

I crave intellection
I accept objection
I demand reflection
I resist correction

I am Imperfection
Embrace me

Celebrate me
Together we will be Imperfectly Perfect!

The Japanese art of Kintsukuroi, recreation of a broken piece of pottery with gold to actually highlight the scars to show that the imperfections make the pottery more beautiful that it was originally is a beautiful reminder of how you can take your imperfections, own them to make a perfectly unique YOU.

Life I believe is full of Imperfections. It is these little daily imperfections that culminate at the end of a day to make a perfectly beautiful life. That’s how my world is. It’s filled with shades of bright vibrant reds to melancholy yet calming blues.

Let us Kintsukuroi our world. Take the imperfections and make your world Imperfectly Perfect.

Valentine Day gets a Makeover!

It’s a day of love, it’s a day of passion and it’s a day for celebrating all we love, but many don’t know it was historically the day that celebrated the burial of St. Valentine and the Christian Martyr’s. Not exactly a very red rose romantic setting, so why and how did it move from Martyr’s to cupids with arrows, roses, and today in 2019, it is about celebrating self, and I love that.

This valentine day celebrate and I don’t mean going out for fancy dinners or partying and gulping down shots, instead try the reading, traveling, painting, movie going, hiking, and feeding your soul kind of celebration. Pause for a moment and dig deep down to find the tiny pilot light flickering inside you, fuel that and let it burn.

Flare up the passion you had as a child, let your dreams dazzle your days and let your smile glow over your face.

This Valentines day, promise yourself to let go of the negativity and if you can’t let to, promise yourself to ignore. The naysayers and the copy cats will always be there, do not despair. They copy, because they dream to be you. Their lives on Facebook look picture perfect but remove the filters and the brightness goes away. Ignore them, forgive them and pray they find their peace.

In 2013, I said Love is a choice, and I still believe that. We definitely choose who to love. This Valentines day choose to love every part of yourself. The beautiful stretch marks that remind you of your gorgeous kids, the dark circles show you cared to stay awake, the grey hair is proof you care more for the world around you. Love these imperfections because they make the perfect YOU.

Do what you love. It’s hard to ignore the nays and the no’s but we all have to start some day, so start today. For many months, I did not write as the negativity was taking control, my mind told me to write, but the heart could not. Today, I am letting go of the negativity and choosing to write again. This Valentines Day, I am choosing to do what I love.

How will you celebrate Valentines Day?

Mother’s Day; Celebrating the kids.

I love the fact that we have a day dedicated to celebrating moms, pampering them and treating them like queens. It gives us all a reason to slow down and pick up that phone. Then comes Monday and we all fall into the rigor of life and the work ahead.

I remember the first Mother’s day, the warm fuzzy feeling and the proud joy of being wished Happy Mother’s day. Fast forward and today I don’t wait to be pampered or treated like a queen. Mother’s day today was about celebrating my love for them by doing what I do everyday.. taking care of their whims and fancies. No longer is it about the presents or luncheons, it is about ME celebrating my love for my kids.

I don’t know when and how this transition came about, but it surprised me today and I have to say, it was a lovely Mother’s Day today. I did what I do best, cooked their favorites and enjoyed seeing the dishes disappear.

To become a mom was not an impulsive decision or an Ooops moment, it was a well thought out decision. My older one was the first baby I had ever held in my arms. Yes, I wasn’t exactly the baby smooching kind of adult. It took me good 5 years to decide; I remember the exact moment when my heart told me, I am ready to be a mom. Every mother’s day nostalgia takes over and I go down the memory lane of 2002 and 2008.

I love them more every day and yet, every day I wonder if I am doing enough. As mother’s we always wonder, don’t we? It’s hardest when I have to say NO to them or when I have to show tough love. They fight, fight more and yet, I have to keep my stance for the tiniest of tantrums knowing very well, that I can do it for them. Such is the love of every mother born and yet to be born. We feed them to fill ourselves and we hurt at their pain.

My greatest wish is to see them as kind hearted adults. I want my kids to remember that if they make a mistake and lie to me about it, I will punish them hard, and if they are honest, I will fight this Universe for them. I want them to remember that I am their biggest critique and most ardent fan. I want them to know that they can walk through life knowing that mom is only a text away 🙂

As my kids get older, I can already see and feel the empty nest coming to life and it’s scary. I know I will have to fill the void and find ways to keep myself busy but until then, every Mother’s day I will continue to celebrate and pamper them for they are the reason why I am wished Happy Mother’s Day.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you!

Let 2018 be your Happy Year.

31st December, 2017 was special; It was the weekend, the month end and they year end. Another year gone, 365 days around the sun and we welcome 2018.

A new year, isn’t it wonderful that every 365 days all of us get a chance to start all over again. We are gifted a year with absolutely no mistakes in it.

Today, I am giving up or rather letting go the urge to make resolutions. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for change. Resolutions, the thought of making them is the first step towards that change. The question is why wait till the end of the year? So, my first resolution for 2018 is to not make any resolutions and celebrate each day as if that’s the best thing that happened to me. I believe in Pronoia and I want to celebrate that more.

2017 was turbulent to say the least. I chanted Pronoia, Pronoia ample times and yes that got me through. Thus, Pronoia celebration gets amped up in 2018. Keep the faith and the belief.

2016-2017 were two years of deep reflection for me. As I edge towards my half life, I had to ask myself some pointed questions and all were centered around choosing happiness.

How do we choose happiness? Isn’t that what we all want? Money can’t buy it. They say it’s within us, but how do we find it?

Here’s what I did.

I decided to remove anyone that brought negativity into my life.
I chose to prioritize the people over things in my life.
I went through a rather aggressive “de junk” my home and my closets. Less is more, is slowly creeping into my life.
I am learning to accept people in all their faults.
I continued to work hard to be unfuckwithable
I asked myself: Where do I see myself post 50? Interestingly, I found myself repeatedly surround by kids. I realized despite the hair pulling moments, I love hanging out with kids more than I like hanging out with adults. So in my search for Career Part 2, instead of drilling myself to look for a job that grinds me, I chose to forego the exciting lucrative corporate careers, and I started my journey into the world of education. I have to admit being in a school was the right choice because I see kindness and compassion every day. I can’t say that about many other careers.

Ask yourself, Does your job make you happy? When you love your work, then you never have to work in your life.

The combination of all of the above has made me saner, sanity brings calm and calmness brings in the happy.

Happiness fact; it comes and goes. Happiness cannot be locked in a box. We will always puruse happiness and maybe that’s how it’s meant to be, for if happiness could be trapped, then sorrow could be traded.

Declutter, Believe and Be Unfuckwithable for a Happy You.

In 2018, I wish you happiness.

Karwachauth – It’s feminism at its best.

Karwa chauth – simply explained is the Indian festival of absolute fasting by a wife for the long and healthy life of her husband. There are stories and there are interpretations, but at the end of the day it is about a wife’s faith.

A day of celebration or regression to patriarchal India, it’s all about your perspective.

I am definitely not the God fearing kind of person. I believe in God, and I don’t think he punishes us for anything. So, yes I know that if I don’t fast, God is not going to punish me in any form, and yet I fast. Here’s why?

I fast because I love my husband. My faith teaches me to not fight everything in life. Somethings as illogical as they are, need to be done to keep the roots alive and the foundation strong. I depend on a man, and he’s my husband, so if my faith teaches me that I have the power to increase his life span and keep him healthy, then why won’t I?

It is very sad that modernism and feminism questions the faith and belief of so many of us. We as women label each other as traditional and old fashioned. Why? What is old fashioned about keeping your roots alive? There are many husbands and in-laws who don’t care about the festival and that’s okay too. It’s their choice. However, it is not okay to debase the faith of millions of women who fast on Karwachauth.

I fast because it’s a celebration of feminity. On this day, I dig out the brightest of my sarees and the boldest of my jewelry and adorn in all the glamour. It’s a day when I celebrate my feminity. What’s wrong with that?

Again modern India calls it being servile and submitting to a regressive culture where the wife is nothing but a thing of beauty. I respectfully disagree with all my fellow feminists who feel this way. India is one of the few countries that celebrates women power and if that power comes with curves and glamor, more power to the women of India for they know how to ride a bicycle wearing a saree.

I fast, because not everything in life is about equality and men bashing. Men put a smile on our faces too, they just don’t fast. I am sure you have heard the age old adage, way to a man’s heart is through his stomach 😉

I fast because I am the typical woman who believes that I am the nurturer in my home and my husband is the provider. We are comfortable in our roles and have found our grounding. I don’t know if this makes me less of a feminist or more of a woman, all I know is that it’s a spectrum of two extremes and somewhere in between the spectrum of feminism to woman is a wife.

I have understood one thing, If I had been a career woman, the women in this world would have questioned my dedication to my family. When I was a SAHM, the same women question my decision to be just a mom and today when I am mom trying to find my career, the same women question my decision to not choose a career with the best ROI…. do I care? I think I do, because it hurts. It hurts at many different levels when women refuse to acknowledge and celebrate each other.

However today’s post is about a wife’s faith. The wife who only cares about her family, the wife who doesn’t care about being labeled, the wife who is only interested in the continued companionship and love in her life.

Karwachauth, it’s a celebration of a wife’s faith. It’s the epitome of feminism.

The Girl, The Woman, The Goddess

Once upon a time the world worshipped the woman. The gods called upon the goddess to save them for she was valor, strength and knowledge living in harmony with her surroundings. The harmony gave her the freedom to be who she chose to be. The goddess worshipping cultures considered their women, the giver of life. The men had their own roles, they were the providers. In essence, humans had found their balance and there was a man in every woman and a woman in every man. There was no room for competition. Then we discovered the fire, the wheel, the industry and here we are in 2017, still struggling with the fundamentals.

The Indian festival of Navratri celebrates the Goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi in all their forms for their valor, wealth and knowledge respectively. It is nine day of fasting, dancing and celebration. Consider it the mythological Woman’s day celebration. Personally for me, my favorite is the 8th day. The eighth day is called Ashtami. It is the day when we celebrate the girl child.

Little girls, pure and innocent mortal forms of The Goddesses are welcomed into loving homes. They are pampered with gifts galore and in turn the little angels shower their giggly blessings and love on the family. Soon these angels grown up and cross the threshold into woman hood. We stop inviting them. Why?

Today, let’s talk about it.The Period.

Is it the girls fault that she grew up? Is it her fault that she was blessed with the gift of bearing the next generation? Is it her fault that she has no control of the when and where of The Period? If your answer to all these questions was no, then I ask you again, why do you stop worshipping her?

The Period, makes us a woman and yet we choose to shun the very essence of us. It is the body preparing the young woman for the future burden of giving birth. Nature knows how painful it is and nature also knows that the training doesn’t happen in a month. It takes years to prepare oneself mentally, emotionally and physically to bare a human child. The Period is simply a natural process that makes it happen. Then why the shaming?

The Period is nothing more than pain and discomfort that the female body goes through majority of her life. Every month she churns out eggs and then bleeds them out, so when the moment is right she can bring a new life into this world. That’s pretty amazing! It’s a supernatural wondrous quality.

The Period does not kill the sacred Tulsi plant. The Period does not curse a temple and The Period definitely does not ruin Navratri. Think about it, we are worshiping the Goddesses, they are women too. Their mortal forms probably had gone through the same pain. They get it. Trust me the Goddesses are not going to punish you if you choose to worship them with The Period. The Goddesses will not curse you, should you choose to celebrate the young woman in your life. We call them “Mata”, which means Mother. Do you really believe that a mom will punish her daughters for stopping by to say hello?

This Navratri, I reinvented my celebrations by choosing to ignore The Period and continue the celebrations. This Navratri I reinvented my celebrations and promised my self to continue Ashtami well into the adolescent years of my daughter. I choose to celebrate the kids today and for the years ahead.

It is time we the women reinvent faith and beliefs.

It’s time we understand that The Period is a part of every woman and we all exist because of The Period.

My dear daughter, Once a year we meet. I love seeing you in your best attire rejoicing with your friends. I love the food you make for me when I come to your home. I really don’t care if you come see me alone or if you come with the Period. I just care about meeting you. Let us continue to meet regardless of the Period. I am a woman too, I get it. Rejoice with me. Celebrate the essence of being woman, as that is the celebration of Navratri.

Academic Robots

7.55 am and I am upfront at the stop light on Blacow and Grimmer Boulevard. In front of me I see an ocean of human faces passing through the light to go to their school. A school that I honestly believe does believe in the potential of its students, encourages them to dream, play hard ( the school has 50+ sports teams), have fun and yet all I see is an army of academic robots. Their faces are expressionless and every one of them is looking for something on the road. Why are they all looking down? Why aren’t they talking to each other? These are teens, they are supposed to be laughing, chirping, goofing off on the road and just being teens. Instead they all look sad, just plain sad.

Today is the first day of the Indian festival Navratri and this was definitely not the post in mind, and yet the image of these lifeless robots crossing the street is so vivid, that I cannot write about any thing else. How and when did the chirpy kinder kids grow into these stressed out young adults? Kinder starts at 5 and high school starts at 13/14; we the brilliant adults have managed to suck the life out of our most precious ones in just 6-7 years. Amazing!! Why did this happen? Is it their fault? Definitely not. They have only been on this planet for a few years. I blame my generation, no not the grandparents, but us, the current parents. We have completely messed it up for these kids. Our dreams, our aspirations, our fears, our joys; we impose it on them.

In the name of success, we push them to succeed in tougher courses, without realizing that our definition of success may not be theirs. Why does one have to do something hard to be considered successful? Why is simple not enough anymore?

In our desire to make the kids smart, we have made them so smart that they are now afraid to cry, try or avail for help. They are afraid, very afraid of failure.

Parent time has been replaced with tutors. Do we as parents even realize that no tutor will be as vested in our children as ourselves. Why are we working so hard? Maybe just so we can pay the tutors and then gain the bragging right for their success.

We blame the increased cost of everything. Yes, I agree life is expensive now, infact very expensive, but that’s not the child’s fault, again it is our generation that made the economy of today. The kids did not ask for million dollar homes and expensive cars, we did.

The vision stays with me and this Navratri I pray for the sanity and the safety of our kids. May the goddesses give the kids so much strength that they are able to make this world a better place. A world where we stop running in the Maze looking for our Giver.