Being Parent!

Sometimes I feel I am not a good parent. Especially when I see my parents...or parents from previous generation I get the feeling of being insufficient. There are lot of things which we can take from our previous generation. Most of our parents planned for our future right from when we were born. They were not necessarily rich or having high paying jobs but the day we were born they made a tryst with us, an unspoken promise, that no matter what happens they will always be there for us and they will do anything to give us the best education or a pompous marriage ceremony. They struggled on both the ends...like they had to take care of kids as well as their parents...sometimes financial sometimes nursing the sick. And they did with utmost pleasure. They sacrificed their desire to live in a luxurious way. They saved every single penny for a rainy day. 

Source:Internet


A mother is a backbone of a family. The previous generation of mothers was the first generation to get access to higher education and employment. However when it came to kids these were the very mothers who gave up their dreams or jobs so that the next generation could be raised well. Right from nourishment to taking studies to nursing us on our sick days they did everything for us. They redefined the term of success for themselves. Their success was often attached to how much we succeed or how well we behaved. 

The fathers of our generation worked hard to provide us our basics. I remember one incident when my dad took me and my brother for Diwali shopping to Mumbai.  When we came back home I realised while he bought so much for us all he bought for himself were two pairs of handkerchief. This is why I often feel that fathers in Indian culture are kind of unsung heros. While there is so much in literature or poems that celebrates mothers...there is very little that celebrates our fathers. 

It is also true that we grew up in an era where things were less complicated. I know it is also difficult to compare two different generations in terms of education. What our parents paid for our graduation fees, we are paying for our kid's nursery. The trends are different now. With the advent of social media, things have changed a lot. In an era where a significant amount of income goes in paying EMI's of home, car etc. it is very difficult to plan for a future when we are already in debt for most of our working years. To add to our woes we live in a generation where we ought to live in certain way, social media also adds more to our competition. The parents of our generation dedicated their whole lives for us. We can try to at least take the maximum good characteristics of our previous generations if not their whole.  

Happy Parenting!!!

Comments

Popular Posts