A lesson in parenting

For his English Language home assignment, my son Gautam had to write a story based on a picture from his Hindi Language text book. The eleven-year old turned out this delightful piece, which also turns out to be a lesson in parenting.

It was a typical Saturday afternoon in the Gupta household, and there was a terrible noise of tearing pages. Mrs Gupta rushed to her son’s room, only to see that Raj, her son, was tearing his Biology text book apart. “What are you doing?” his mother scolded him. “This useless chapter on flowers is driving me nuts. And I still have to learn that dreaded chapter on fitness,” her son replied. His mom rebutted, “So does that mean you tear it apart? Wait till your father arrives!”

Mr Gupta reached home after a strenuous day at work, only to be bombarded with complaints about Raj. Raj got the shelling of his life. After that his father said, “I know a great way to teach you Biology. We’ll go to the park in the evening and I’ll show you the types of flowers and tell you about fitness.” How could Raj argue? He had only shreds of paper left from his Biology text book.

Later in the park, Mr Gupta helped Raj understand the parts of the flowers and the many types of flowers. He said, “See, these are the petals and the stamens. And these are the anthers. These are Marigolds and these are Jasmines.” Then he showed Raj how pollination occurs, “First the insect sits on the flowers, and carries pollen with it. Then, when the pollen falls on another flower of the same kind, pollination occurs.” “Dad, I did not know that Biology can be so interesting when done in this way.”

His Dad continued, “See that girl skipping, and that man jogging over there, these are two ways in which we can stay fit. Yoga is also good for our health.”

“Thanks for helping me Dad. Now how about we buy a new text book.”

Both of them had become much closer and friendlier in the single hour that they spent in the park!

Advertisement