Letter to Sonia Gandhi on ‘Parenting Skills’

Published on Faking News in Dec 13

Dear Mrs. Sonia Gandhi,
parend
“Don’t worry mom.”
From one parent to another, I can empathize with your pain, anguish and anger. It is perfectly normal for a parent to be upset, disappointed as well as angry when our progeny does not succeed in life & belies our expectations.
No I am not trying to sell you Bournvita with DHA here. Nor am I trying to push a book about ‘Perfect Parenting’. Parenting is too serious a business to be left to chemical formulations, nutrient statistics and self help books.
But, it is also too serious a business to be left to mentors, coaches & advisors, even if they are ex CMs. Parenting cannot be automated, cannot be outsourced.
First lessons for the child come from (perceived) great feats achieved by parents. For every child the inspiration comes from what he believes as his / her ‘Superdad’ or ‘supermom’. The innocent child believes that his / her parents are greatest parents in the world, most ethical, honest & upright and possibly capable of performing super human feats. So when you tell your son the stories about your and Rajiv’s feats, kindly do not mention the chapters pertaining to Quattrocchi, Kesri, St. Kitts or Bofors. If the delicate mind of the child finds tomorrow that there are chinks in the parents’ armour, resultant dejection can have huge implications on child’s sense of right and wrong.
Secondly, important ethical and moral lessons for the children come from grandparents, uncles & aunts in a joint family. They are very sensitive to behaviour of their parents towards other family members & friends. A Chacha forgotten or an old family friend ignored can create a void in the mind of the child’s relational framework which can never be filled. In absence of such social relationships, the kids can grow up to become clueless, directionless and contextless.
I am sure you would agree with me on the delicate balance between the carrot and the stick, the reward and punishment. It is a method tried and tested by parents for centuries, may be millenniums. “If you get good grades, we would get you a bicycle” holds good even today except that the bicycle is replaced with a smart phone. You may need to try a different variation like, “If you improve your attendance in parliament to above 50%, I promise you a vacation for one week every three months in Spain” But kindly don’t overdo it by promising Columbia too with 60% attendance.
I am sure my advice will be useful and you would act on it. The cross of the failure of children has to be borne by parents.

Another upset parent

Popular posts from this blog

Bechara's of the world triumph - always; Why bypolls went the way they did.

Image
Most of us would have heard or read this story before but its relevance to the current situation makes a retelling necessary. A sword smith came to the King’s durbar (any King, let’s be secular) and declared that he had the world’s best sword. It was so good & sharp that it could pierce any shield, repeat any shield in the world.  The claim was tested on the few shields available and when found to be true, the King became happy, and as usually happens in such stories, gave a lot of gold and other jewels to the smith and sent him off. A year or two later, the smith came to the King’s court again, this time brandishing a shield which, he claimed, no sword in the world could pierce. The people were simple in those days and he was believed.  The King was about to be relieved of some more gold and gems but then, one smart Ram Singh remembered the sword that the smith had sold earlier. He got up and reminded the king of the impossibility of both claims being true and a...
Read more

Congress marketing pitch; offerings and services – revealed in introduction letter to new allies

Image
Published on Faking News in Sept 13 Our sources got this document from Congress headquarters. Though it could not be confirmed, it looks like it is part of their introduction letter to new, potential allies.  We will make you an offer you can’t refuse. We would like to introduce ourselves as a 130 year old conglomerate offering variety of solutions for organizations looking for special services. Our happy and contented customers vouch for our unmatched offerings and services. Our bouquet of offerings: Immunity & Protection : The law is an ass, someone said. And if you are on wrong side of it, it can become an irritating ass. As one of our core competencies, we provide special offerings for total immunity & protection from investigation & persecution. We also have the capability to redefine laws in case our customers have a need. We use only ISO certified clean chits. Currently we have a situation of high internal resource utilization and with the limit...
Read more

"I am quitting" said God

“I am quitting, with immediate effect.” said God. I was hit by the suddenness of it. God appearing to you can be quite a shock. “Quitting .. What?” I blurted out. “Quitting from the position of God” He was looking sad, weighed down by something. A fraction of a moment later, the realization of what He had said and the implication that the world was coming to an end dawned on me. I felt as if I have been thrown over a steep cliff into a bottomless abyss.  I stammered, “What? You can’t do that!” “Why on earth not? I am the master of my freewill. Are you telling me I am not?” God retorted. “I mean..  I mean, the world would come to an end.. Where would we go? What would we do? Oh, no. Would we survive? I don’t want to die.” I pleaded. “Don’t be melodramatic. Nothing is going to happen to your world.” God dismissed my pleadings. “Nothing will happen? How would world survive without you?” I persisted, still pleading. “Don’t act dumb. I gave you...
Read more