ritwika16

Transition..

June 2005, was when my first child, my sonny boy, started with his playgroup. I was so anxious! He was only 2-1/2 years old, didn’t speak a lot, spoke mostly in Bengali, and was never out of my sight. I was worried as a mom as to how will he manage! His playschool was located in a beautiful location in the hills of Dharamsala, Himachal. Soon, both he and me started getting used to this change. I remember I would carry him in my arms when he would come back drowsy and sleepy from his school and feed him lunch by telling him stories.
 
Today my son paid the fees of his class 12 or SYJC as it is known here in Mumbai. He is an independent young man now, traveling by local train, taking out cash from ATM, handling different kinds of people, having a dosa or vada pao at a stall when hungry. These 14 years have transitioned him from a lost toddler to a strapping confident young man, but have I transitioned much?😀
ritwika16

Skills learnt are never wasted..

I had typing as a subject in class 10. Later in 2000 when I did my medical transcription course, again I had typing as a subject along with strong emphasis on proofreading documents. Much later, when I started blogging my typing and proofreading skills helped me a lot.
 
When we learn something, often we feel what will be the use in the future? Well..you never know, kab kya kaam aa jaye! Education is never wasted, life skills learnt are never wasted, discipline and manners learnt are never wasted, any skill learnt at any point in time in life is never wasted..
 
#lifeskills
#skills
ritwika16

Humans beyond everything.

So, one young life lost to bullying and casteist slur, all done by the so-called educated people, the doctors. Ragging and bullying have taken away so many young lives. What kind of sadistic pleasure do bullies get by inflicting emotional and physical torture on others? Are they humans or have no emotions? Such behavior is seen from childhood which many parents of bullies tend to ignore. I myself have faced body shaming, indifference because I am a non-vegetarian, and so on. It’s important that we get beyond caste, food habits, looks and treat humans with love, respect and empathy.

ritwika16

Meaning of true friendship

#truefriendship

Few of my son’s friends are going through personal and financial crisis. These boys have studied with my son since nursery. I have always seen them laughing, hanging out together, playing, doing masti. Today my son was worried about his friends who are going through crisis and he and his friends are standing by them as rock solid support. They cannot support much in terms of money but they are try to pitch in during outings and have told them clearly “This is not charity, this is friendship.”

Who says teenagers are selfish and only are friends with benefits or only party together? It is the adults these days I see who don’t know the real meaning of friendship many a times. These boys on the verge of adulthood are realizing the hardships of life and trying to help their friends by morally and emotionally supporting them. Hope they remain like this always!

Really proud of these boys!

ritwika16

Dikhawe par mat jao..

I had been looking for Maths and Accounts classes for my son now that he is in 12th. Didn’t want a class which would be too far as my son has to travel to Churchgate for his college as such. Also, he has to give time for rest of his subjects which he will study on his own. Talked to a lot of people, ultimately got reference from my son’s friend who goes to the same class. I went to meet the teacher with my son and saw that her home was in an old building. The lady welcomed us to her small cozy home. I got an instant vibe that this lady would be a nice teacher.
 
Some instincts do work well. As my son says, there are only 3-4 students in the batch and the teacher is good, no-nonsense lady and teaches very well. Compared to other group tuition classes her fees is also reasonable.
 
Moral of the story: Dikhawe par mat jao, apni akal lagao 😀
 
PS: Nothing against any other teacher or class, just my own experience. Even in 10th my son studied in half the price as his peers and did well.
ritwika16

Motivation and comparison are different..

#Resultstress
 
We all want our kids to do well in life, but many parents don’t realize the difference between motivation and comparison. Yesterday I read sad posts where the kids scored more than 90% yet their parents compared them with other kids. The kids studied without expensive tuition so as to not pressurize their parents, studied hard on their own to the best of their capability yet the parents were disappointed in them. To motivate kids, do we need to compare them? There are loads of options to study these days. Just the other day I met a girl who is studying beauty and wellness in Symbiosis Pune.
 
Parents don’t like when kids compare them with other parents, so why do the parents have to compare their kids with other kids? No matter what, love your children the way they are, love their capabilities, love them for being your children.
ritwika16

Born with a destiny

Today somewhere I read a post about kids being raised in a bubble, bubble of luxury and away from hardships of life. I see many parents comparing their life as kids to their own children’s life and how it has changed and how our kids’ life has become more comfortable. Yes..times have changed. But I feel kids do adjust as and when required. It’s not their fault that they are not raised amidst poverty or hardships. But when times come they can do everything. My son travels by BEST buses and local trains daily. He relishes street food with his friends as all friends have limited money. My kids can relish food in a 5-star restaurant as well is in a roadside dhaba. We can simply introduce all these to them without being preachy or without comparing,

Every person on this planet is born with his/her destiny..