24 April 2021

The FIRST Mentors

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam ……..a phrase came in existence more than a thousand year back. Most of us have heard it and few of us may know the actual meaning of this Sanskrit Phrase. As a parent, our role is not only to shower our unconditional and unlimited love to our children but also to fulfill the responsibility of making them a good human being….A wish that I made at my first encounter with my child. Parents are first teachers or mentors of their child. Until the child grows to a age where he or she start understanding things……………..they learn from observations. Observations from an environment involving their parents and the extended relations. In such scenario, the parents should ensure that their surroundings match to what they wish to inculcate in their child. I believe there are 3 basic things that they should be mindful when bringing up a child in his/her early years: 1. Language – Language is the first thing a child observes. If we are polite and soft spoken, use respectful language for our elders and teachers, speak lovingly to our peers and juniors, it will all go into the child. 2. Behaviour – Our behavior is the second most important thing a child learn from observation. How we respond to different situations and different people. 3. Building relationships – Last but not the least is the ability to build relationships. This trait is also taken by a child automatically when they see how we build and take care of various relationships – our spouse, children, parents or teachers. Once above is taken care of, half the job as a mentor is already done and now we only hold their hands to make them walk in right direction. Besides this prime responsibility, we parents, as mentor, have a much bigger responsibility. A responsibility to prepare our child to face the world. In today’s world, where distances are negligible and everything is measured on a global platform, it is essential that we teach our kids to survive and face the challenges in the global environment. And here lies the meaning of the phrase quoted at the start : Vasudhaiva kutumbkam The words are combined as Vasudha, Eva and Kutumbakam Vasudha means the earth, Eva means emphasizing and Kutumbakam means a family. It means that the whole earth is just one family. It is a social philosophy emanating from a spiritual understanding that The World of humanity is made of one life energy. Main purpose of this statement is to instruct young minds the philosophy of life in an easy way so that they are able to grow into responsible adults and global citizens. My son was born in India and brought up In Dubai, UAE. We loved him undoubtedly but fortunately me and my partner never made him our weakness and never allowed him to make us his weakness. He was brought up in a bit unusual style….Never being forced to have strict discipline or being brilliant in studies. Instead, we tried to teach him the basics that I just mentioned under prime responsibilities. We never taught him religion, caste, regional restrictions or even restricted food habits. Today he is grown up to think as an INDIVIDUAL and not as our son or Indian boy or a Hindu boy. A very famous Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran quoted: “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, To all parents and would be parents…………………a child is an individual and you are only assigned a task of being their MENTOR. Do not expand the boundaries of this Role.

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