LIFE AS IT IS

When I was young, I did not know how important it was to stick to one’s long-standing values and principles. But I saw my dad do it. I will not go into detail but let’s just say, the lives of the four of us (my parents, me and my brother) changed overnight. All of a sudden, it meant making adjustments to many things - little adjustments and big adjustments. It meant getting used to taking an auto-rickshaw to college instead of a car and it meant not getting to eat chicken every day. I used to be angry with my father because I believed he was the reason my comfortable life was suddenly lost. We paid a high price for his honesty, so did he. But those events and changes in my life made me what I was to become. Today, when I look back in time, my heart fills with respect and gratitude for my father, who never budged an inch from his values, principles and what he thought was morally correct. Today, when I think of those days, I feel that I would have done the same, if I were in his pl...

I am a parent, and as such I feel the onus to teach our children the difference between good and bad is squarely on us. We the parents, both fathers and mothers, are our children's first teachers, and it is our responsibility to inculcate the right kind of knowledge into them, so they can become worthy members of the society when they grow up.  As a parent, I also feel that if my child fails her society, I am also partly, if not fully, responsible for her failure.  We now live in a fast-paced, selfish, materialistic world where we are so busy making money and living our own lives that many of us have no idea what our children do on the Internet all day long, what they play, read and watch, who their friends are, and how they spend their free time.  We do not sit together at the dinner table, we do not watch movies together, and we do not chitchat over breakfast on weekends. We do not know if our children are depressed or secretly frustrated, or if all they want is t...