DIFFICULT TO BE SIMPLE

My School teacher happened to teach me a very important lesson of my life. She said that its simple to be important but its more important to be simple. A very unadorned line but left a key impression on my mind.

Unfortunately these days children do not learn such ethics at school. Besides the school lessons, they pick up meaningless standards too. Are teachers to be blamed? No, Not really. It’s WE, the parents who are to be reproached.

Just yesterday, I had taken my little sweetie to her first school. Both of us were very keen, more so me because it was a mother- toddler program which I really looked forward to wondering what my baby would learn or how would she respond , this being her first time socializing.

But when I entered, forget about my daughter being flabbergasted in the whole new environment, I was myself a little lost. It seemed less of a classroom but more of a fashion pageant of mother and child. They were all astonishingly dressed, worth appreciating. They spoke in a very sophisticated manner which I would love to imitate. But the only uncertainity that ran across my mind was; is this why am I getting my child to the school? Will it be a learning experience for her or something else?

The only consolation was that we were not a part of it. Suhaani and me were way too simple for the bunch. I loved the way she held my hand not wanting to leave it forever as she felt perturbed reaching out to the whole lot of people. I think what she wore or how she spoke was the last thing on our minds. That’s what I call simplicity.

We take offense, judge right or wrong, believe in being up market but ask a child who can be as simple. Simplicity is hard to find these days. All of us were children too at some point of time, just as uncomplicated but time and the big bad world forced us to transform .And very obviously few of us passed on that change to our kids, sometimes too early.

There is no harm being in vogue or adjusting to the new society trends or maturing to acquire the wisdom of right-wrong or good-bad. But its important that we do this with a trouble free and unpretentious attitude like a child does. It’s the beauty of being polite, down to earth and compassionate that makes us a good human being and not sophistication alone- a principle we must remind ourselves and preach our children.

I wish I can be like my daughter Pallavi, who right after being scolded for her wrongs, goes around imitating me dramatizing the same dialogues with her sister. I wish I could be as simple not to mind when someone yells at me. The day she gets irritated, I guess I’ll understand she has matured; She is heading on to become a grown up like me.