Parenting

Boy With a Backpack

Backpack

The boy with a backpack was ten years old, give or take a year. He had bright, intelligent eyes and a cocky assurance about him. He wore a tan jacket and khakhi full length trousers, in protection against the chilly winter winds. He was carrying a backpack which he refused to put down. From time […]

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Parenting: Building Up Your Child

“Come on Anuj! Come on, buck up! Faster, faster, FASTER!” The woman leaning over the railings yelled hoarsely in a passion of parenting frenzy! The venue was crowded. A brown cloud of dust hovered over the tents under which parents sweated it out while their progeny sweated it out on the field. Tanvi glanced at the vociferous, […]

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Hardly Literate

Imagine a learned, erudite man; a man who has lived and breathed words all his life. This is a man has won accolades for his talent of stringing beautiful words evocatively; for communicating emotions not only with sensitivity but with aplomb. He is a poet par excellence, there is no doubt about it. He effortlessly […]

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Impact

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3IVRys63x4?rel=0&w=640&h=360] My first reaction to this video was of admiration for Jennifer… naturally. She is certainly a girl of indomitable spirit. Although the video speaks only of her victories and the encouragement she received from her family, surely there must have been days, instances, when she would be made to feel incomplete. Not by […]

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The Non- Conformist

  When my first child was born, one of the visitor said, “Congratulations on the birth of your motherhood!” The greeting was unusual; it arrested my attention. But even stranger was her expression. She seemed very concerned. I know she was trying to tell me more than her words said. She sat down with me, […]

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The Makers

A close friend shared this video a short while ago. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSVYvUHg4UA&w=560&h=315] The video triggered a few questions within me. I would like to leave them with you. (If I offend you, I apologize in advance. My words are driven by the pain of having to witness the untapped, unrealized and unseen potential of the hundreds […]

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Two Little Girls

The story is old but timeless, as all good stories must be. There was nothing distinguishing, let alone spectacular, about those two girls. They lived in houses opposite each other. They studied in the same school, in the same class. They went to school by the same school bus. They both loved to read. Well, […]

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Keeping It Simple

How do you handle awkward questions from your growing children? My first rule has been never to avoid the questions. No matter what I have been asked, I have always replied. There have been times when I have desperately wanted to duck behind a you’ll know when you are older excuse. But my conscientiousness wouldn’t […]

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