Forget your worries…. Be with a kid

 It is so much fun to be with kids... Even if you are spending time with them for something as mundane as getting to complete their homework or their  studies. 

I have realized that these sessions that I go through with my children is sometimes like getting out of my  own troubles and points of frustration.  It is almost like submerging  myself in  a different kind of world.   I completely forget the pressures of my office, tensions that are part of a joint family system, etc.  It is a  world where we go back to our own school days, copies and books spread on the bed or the table wherever we feel comfortable.   My kids want to be with me where I am and so inevitably the homework time is always my bed!  And for that period, all the copies and books and pencils and erasers of two little naughty ones would juggle for a place as they themselves do, on that little square pad!

I do have a whale of time with them during these sessions, whether it is just helping them find a simple answer to their English lesson or getting to first understand and then teach Sanskrit to my Son or whether it is trying to put some intelligence on the numbers and math solution crunching...  it is so satisfying to see the sparks of understanding that the kids reach when you explain or show them how to do something.  It is a wonderful experience to watch them attain gradual levels of mastery of a subject.   From the incredulousness  of not being able to understand, to the joy of recognition and then a sense of achievement when they actually are able to get a sum cracking.. is a journey that they go through with each new concept..    It is a journey that I would not miss watching for anything in this world.   And I know that they have fun doing this with me!

Sometimes when I see such confidence that my kids gain from these interactions and studies I feel that there are so many out there who miss this.    Every child is just waiting to be taught and moulded and given the right education.  We just need enough people and enough time to spend with them.

And that's something that most of the people don't have enough of these days!  We get so busy in our office work and house work that we often neglect being with children and watch them grow as individuals and gain knowledge right in front of our eyes.    I guess the need is to focus.. Focus on what’s most important in our life.   Sometimes it is important to say no to somethings in life  and stay happy not doing it.   

Be different, Be unique

Sometimes on my way to work, I walk through an institute campus.  The campus is a sprawling spread of greenery and colourful combination of floral arrangements with cement structures thrown in between and it is always a very peaceful experience to go through the campus without the buzzing sounds of buses and cars zooming past you every second.  Even if it takes about half an hour just to cross the campus, I try and take the route to give a little exercise to my not-so-used limbs and also to enjoy the scenes and in the process meditate and be with God for sometime alone and I really enjoy these walks with God by my side!  There are so many things I have learnt by just walking like this with God.

As I was walking one day, I was quite intrigued by the row of trees lined on both sides of the pathway. They look very beautiful standing all together, tall and majestic giving a boulevard kind of look to the entire campus.   I looked at them carefully..

All of them together looked really lovely.  Some of them were green, some red, some yellow, some covered with various other plants with multi-coloured flowers - purple and white etc.   even as they looked so beautiful with all the different colours, i noticed how each of these are so very different from the other one even in the way they were built, even if they were of the same species. 

Some of them had thick stem, some were so thin, some branched out from the roots itself and some had branches starting after they've reached some distance.  Some of them had branches sloping towards the earth, and some of them were sloping entirely as a tree one way or the other.  Some are twisting and twirling while they were trying to grow, as some naughty children who feel just growing straight is not enough.  In fact, what was surprising was that upon a closer scrutiny i could not see any tree i could call a real perfect figure!

Most of the trees had stems that were lined, some had big huge holes, some had some climbers running across covering their entire being, some had branches cut and pruned and some had just no shape at all, they went in all directions before figuring out that they have to actually grow up.  However, each one of them looked beautiful and adorable to me in whatever shape and structure they were in.  They were majestic in their own way!  I loved watching and looking at each one of them from my space. It provided so much comfort for my eyes and my mind and looked so lovely and peaceful all together.  They were just perfect for me as they were, part of the scenic sidewalk that i used for my morning meditational walk.

And as I meditated on this thought, it really struck me that even people are like that.   We are all so different from each other with different talents, looks , structure, colour, attitude and motives.  Yet, we all strive to be like somebody else - Someone who we feel is handsome, beautiful  or intelligent.  However, what we don’t realize is that with our unique abilities and the way we are, we are beautiful in the eyes of the Lord.   We need to add the unique dimension that we bring to the group, however different it is.  If everyone acted and did the same thing and all looked alike, life would be so boring.  

It is the difference, the imperfections and inadequacies in each one of us that make us so unique and so beautiful! So, we just need to be ourselves, and start loving ourselves for what we are, hone our talents and show to the world what we have within each one of us!  The World is going to look so beautiful with so many different colours and myriads and dimensions added to it….