An address to the child

An Address to the Child 

Dear child,

          I wonder how you are playing so many roles in your life. You are the dream of your parents. You are the aspiration of your elders.  Your teachers have high expectations regarding you. You are the pride and hope of your nation. The society feels that you are its support in future. Even the ancestors  who are in heaven want your help to get their salvation.

          But, you are just a replica of the God who resides in heaven. You never bother about these duties you have to perform  but  simply go on enjoying in your own way. Your only botheration is your stomach. If your appetite is satisfied you never require anything more.

          But, yes, these days you have started recognizing your mother in the first place and some more kith and kin. If your mother is absent for a long time you start searching for her and cry in an awful way. May your mother be with you always child, which is a treasure for any child on this earth. But, be you in village or town or city, this has become somewhat difficult these days. The mothers in villages go to work in fields, while mothers in cities go to work in offices. The problem is the same. You have to cope with this child. Atleast to give you a good care they have to work, Isn’t it?

          Dear child, then you will live with your grand parents which also is equally nice.  If you are in a village your grand parents find time/make time to tell you fairy tales of moon and stars in the sky, of  kings and queens and prince and princesses, of animals like lions and tigers. You will grow into a very well behaved boy or girl by this, child. The city grannies also take a good care of children, but many times their life style is a little different from that of the village people. Hence the way they guide the children will be different. You have to adjust to the way you are brought up. Both the ways are good.     

          I am glad for one thing dear, these days even if you are a girl child people welcome you. The prejudice that only the son will serve them in their old age has gone now. The girl infanticide is strictly punished nowadays. 

          Now you are a grown up school-going child dear. You are having your own worries and nightmares. Generally the teachers in K.G.. schools and anganavadis are very cordial. You need not get tensed. But dear, if you are in village, your going to school itself may be delayed. But dear, the Government is doing a lot to encourage you to study. You should make the best use of what you are given. The Government is improving the village schools in a number of ways. Inspite of their efforts there are some schools where there are no benches or blackboard or worse than that, even teachers!  But be patient. Make the best use of what you have got. You are the maker of your destiny then. If the children in cities operate computers at a very young age children like you can  understand the mechanisms of tractors and water pumps. You have a better knowledge of crops and animal husbandry when compared with a city child. So whatever that comes in your way you learn that and enjoy.

          If you stay in city your problem is a different one. Though you are in K.G. school, you will have homework (sometimes difficult to finish in time)  which you must cope with. You will be a good child if you do it without causing tension to your parents dear. You are having other facilities also like vans and school busses to pick you and drop. You have good enough parents who will get you whatever you want. Then, aren’t you lucky, tell me?

          If you are living  in city  you must remember  that you should love and respect your mother tongue, child. Try to stick to the same language which you used to call your  dear mom when you just could pronounce only syllables. Learn other languages, no harm, but your feelings should flash in your mother tongue. Always talk with elders in the language they are familiar with.

          As you grow up, your responsibilities increase, dear, in other words, the pressure upon you. In every field, in every step, there is competition. Your teachers, or friends, or  neighbours, or your own parents may compare you with other children(sometimes  with your own brother or sister!). Don’t feel bad at those times dear. If they praise you don’t become headlong and look down upon the other child. If they say the other child is better than you and tease you, don’t lose your heart. They don”t mean to hurt you, but they don’t know the psychology of a child. You go ahead  in your  own way but never yield to the comparisons the elders make.

          You have long back started observing your parents, your people and the society which surrounds you. Naturally you will follow the people whom  you observe and imitate them. But be very careful, child. Before taking any person as role model you have to consult your heart and check whether their behaviour  is accepted by the majority in the society. It is always better if you read good books about  great leaders of the world and also our mythology where you will come across great personalities whom you  should always  remember and respect.  Take them as your role models.

          There is one tendency  in the society that only engineers or doctors or people with such professional skills are the real backbones for the modern society. But  just  entering into one such profession will not make Tom a great personality. It is your dedication to the work, discrimination in selecting only the good and useful in life, determination in achieving something good and many such factors  help you do something useful to the society or nation. So first be a man  of good heart and then become a man of profession. Every brick has its importance and use in constructing a house.

          A very important thing dear child, as every year you will witness national festivals like Independence Day and Republic Day. Don’t end the celebration just with a chocolate in your mouth and a holiday to roam here and there. These national festivals are in memory of great leaders who have sacrificed their blood for our nation. Respect those leaders and be grateful for them for their worthy contributions.

          Once you cross childhood and enter the next stage  you are a boy or a girl and you are no more a child. You will reap whatever you have sown when you were a child. While you were a child the world was just in  expectation of something  from you. But, now, the world will demand what it needs from you. Go along with the world, but never  lose your individuality and become a  puppet in a fool’s hand. Live to the aspirations of all as well as to your soul’s contentment.

          You are the person to carry the torch of our culture and tradition. So be very modest in your behaviour, dress and outlook. The whole nation, entire society where you live leans upon you to maintain its standards. Have it in your mind and behave so that you keep up the prestige of your family, school, the society in which you live and your motherland. If the basement in childhood  is good you will achieve this dear.

          You have come from the divine grace of God upon this earth. Maintain that divinity as far as possible. May you have strength, beauty, courage, compassion, hope, joy, talent, reverence to God, respect for elders, wisdom, love, faith and all good qualities which uplift your confidence and boost your creativity.

WûU oÉÉsÉÉ SãuÉÏ MüÐ mÉëÌiÉqÉÉ

oÉŠÉ oÉŠÉ UÉqÉ Wæû ||

                                     All the best for you, my dear child