Education starts at home. The moment we are born, we start 'sensing' things, and with 'sense' starts our 'educating'. And while the innocent-full-of-love parents are still basking in the joy of seeing their baby, they start educating the child with all their care :-)
As always, let me share some experiences on "educating". The 1st and the most important aspect of educating is "Listening". Something that my parents excelled at. As you all know by now, I was the creative & rebellious kid around, and it needed a different kind of 'parenting' towards me, than towards my "too nice and docile" elder sister. I had loads of questions and curiosity, to begin my parents' days with :D My mom, the ever creative & hard-working in her own pursuits while doing all household chores, paid attention to every little thing I did or said. Nothing was "silly" , or "unimportant" to her. She used to be brutally honest with me, even about the "philosophical" questions I'd throw at a nascent age, wouldn't make her wonder. She would rather think about it, and tell me the best answer known to her. And about the sibling squabbles, well, Mom always "listened to both the sides", and took the decision that "was right".
With such kind of education give by my mom, which allowed my creativity to nurture freely, my mind to question without fear, and to help us arrive at "righteous conclusions to squabbles, however silly", she indeed was developing a model of education that continues to help me grow up.
While mom stayed mostly at home, while going out for Teaching classes etc., I felt 'cared for', and 'supported' and somehow I emulated her ways of 'conducting herself in the society', the woman of character that she is, afterall. Dad was working with the Indian Railways in the Operating Division, and he would come home everyday by 6PM sharp, but on most days, he'd bring work home. And I used to be over-enthusiastic about his *works*. Frankly, those days (my school-days), I had no idea about things like 'work pressure', and 'getting tired'. And you know how ? My Dad *never* uttered those words at home, infront of us. As soon as he would come home, he would ask for water, I'd give him, and I'd make different snacks for him as well, and loved to watch him unwind. Yeah, I loved to sit beside him....as he sat on the chair on the terrace, after a long day. On some days, he used to be very tired & just closed his eyes; I'd watch him simply...and ask him questions, to which he'd answer most patiently. On other days, he'd be relaxed, & would tell me about the Galaxy, the Stars, etc. [Terrace used to be & still is, one of my favourite places @ my home]. So, what am trying to say is: He would *never* let me know how tired he is, and what *work worries* he has. And i was stupid enough to not realize the same...and continued growing up with utmost enthusiasm towards life, in general. And that, I believe, built in me, the audacity and the courage to "DREAM".
Because, you see, a child can only dream, in a fearless / worry-less environment provided by "truly educated" parents. I used to 'overhear' my parents talking about my Dad's work-pressure & my mom sharing supportive words, hopeful messages etc., but Dad or Mom, never told their problems to us. On the contrary, Dad always used to share with me the stories of great soldiers from Indian History, great Political leaders who became martyrs for the Nations, great Footballers, great Musicians et. al. and told me that I must always dream big.....and that, he'd support me with all his might :) It was so encouraging, indeed. And like I said, I used to talk more with Mom...as she took care of my school needs etc., so, about my concerns on "I want to do this / that", Mom would give it a thought and would tell me to take the most logical step, even if that required me to do something totally new. She would tell me "You gotta do what you gotta do". So, I was constantly inspired! :)
Ofcourse, there were those moments that called for "strict parental scolding", when I did/said something really wrong / put up a fight with someone, then Mom/Dad would get together and give me a long scolding, to which I'd listen to, with a long face, followed by crying :P (And they would let me cry, as long as I could) :) They would never argue with me, nomatter what I'd "opine" on Any matter; they would rather listen, and they would share their points of views that made me think in dimensions that I might have missed. But yes, if I would "do any Wrong action / Say somthing Wrong", they would tell me I am wrong and would teach me how to take a corrective action / replace the wrong speech with words of Kindness and Love & practise Forgiveness. That's how I'd learn not to repeat my mistakes but develop "human values". Am grateful to my parents, and their "Education", so to say.
Education, which gave me lot of knowledge about courage, faith & righteousness; confidence and grit to take action to fulfill dreams, humility to say a genuine sorry and mean it, power to discriminate between Right and Wrong...in order to develop the ability to choose 'right action' over wrong........always in life, respect towards everyone, and courage to dream big.
Love,
Mishti :)
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