Fatherhood 3

On Wednesday, 18 June 2014, i.e. 2 years ago, I have written about my daughter Maitrayee’s SSC result and its dynamics under the title ‘Fatherhood 2’. I am glad that I am in a position to write ‘Fatherhood 3’ today about her HSC results and neither the tone nor the circumstances or the depth of ‘anything’ has changed even by a fraction, in fact it has deepened, I believe!

Lot has been discussed and is still being discussed about the HSC result and Maitrayee’s score in Philosophy (97), of late. It certainly is a great experience of being celebrated as a proud father and quite overwhelming as well to be at the receiving end of such enormous amount of compliments. Since Wednesday all the 5 Phones (4 mobiles, 1 landline) and all the 5 people in the house were busy for couple of days. I never thought that I had so many contacts and they not only do remember me but also care for me! I mean, how could you explain a schoolmate whom you have met for the last time about 20 years ago, calling you on phone for first ever time in life and talking for about 20 minutes? I am neither jumping to any conclusions here nor being that melancholy philosopher that has been said to be the ‘culprit’ of Maitrayee’s score of 97, or discarding outright all the suggestions from the well-wishers of making her prepare for IAS and alike, I am just trying to ponder on the fact that how human mind functions. Ah… as if it’s some new-found interest of mine!

But today I want to share something different, about my daughter her endeavour and her 'attitude'… but of course! Today she is out for fort drive on Tikona and that reinforced my wish to write about it. With the sharp intellect and analytical skills she has, it would have been ‘natural’ and ‘sensible’ for her to go for Science as she stood the great chance of completing her graduation in Engineering / Medicine / Management or any that kind of convenient career option, fly abroad for her Masters and fetch home a fat package in Dollars. She (yes, it was wholly HER OWN uninfluenced, unprejudiced and independent decision!) chose ‘life’ instead and we were more than happy, why, even proud to support her decision wholeheartedly… with whatever we could offer her to get a life! Just like in her year of SSC, she did everything she wanted to in the year of HSC as well. She was involved in so many activities and initiatives throughout 2 years of Junior College that I fail to remember all of them. She experienced and experimented with so many things that she started to develop her own ‘philosophy’ of life and, already the fastidious soul that she was, now she has her own way in everything she does including climbing college compound wall, time management and fashion! Now this is called Experiential Learning!

She has managed to secure 87% marks overall in the HSC exam and 97% in Philosophy which supposedly is a record, at least for her college in recent years, and she was felicitated for the same by her college Principal. Apart from the Academics and Extra-curricular activities in abundance at College she managed to complete her Advance Diploma in German Language that is of Undergraduate level and she is the youngest in the batch who not only cleared it but secured 75% score that is regarded as an extremely commendable score in these types of exams. She is already volunteering for 3 NGOs and many Causes and adding value to the initiatives with her critical thinking and unique leadership style, I believe! She is attending discourses on Indian Cultural, Spiritual and Philosophical practices by her Grandfather at home for which she almost persuaded him and I am not sure whether I am more fortunate as a Father or a Son…

The moral of the story is, yes, I am happy and we are proud and also fortunate to bridge such generations of immaculate astute aspirations and capabilities, but moreover what I found quite ‘interesting’ (refer to my post ‘Interesting…!’ for the ‘quotes’!) with all this happenings is the somewhat changed mindset of society to look at their Children and their Future (Read: Career... with an adjective of ‘Lucrative’ is recommended!) Many of the calls that we received not only congratulated Maitrayee with an ‘awe’ factor in their tone but also seemed to be (re)thinking of ‘their’ choices and the hassles they already have, and would continue to, put themselves and their children through. Although my wife would not agree (as she mostly does not) to it, I sensed even the apologetic tone of voice in some parents while admitting that their children (not they themselves, mind you!) are looking forward to Engineering, Medicine, Management, etc. etc. Now, no Social Reform can come overnight. Society is such a conditioned entity that it will take years together to de-condition and recondition… I will wait; I have all the time in the world.

Way to go…

Autobiography

Autobiography in Five Chapters

Portia Nelson

---

I

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost...
I am hopeless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

II

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I'm in the same place.
But it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

III

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in...it's a habit
My eyes are open; I know where I am;
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

IV

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

V

I walk down another street.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Freedom...!

A traveler towards the end of a day in his journey through the jungle, reached a tranquil cottage and found a monk, seemingly detached from the outer world, meditating inside. The voyager waited for the monk to finish his service so that he can ask monk's permission to rest for the night at his place before continuing his journey the following morning. As the monk completed his services and found a stranger to accompany him in his remote cottage, he knew what brought the visitor there. Without any questions, the monk greeted his guest and asked him to be at home as long as he wished to.

Around the dawn, the monk went out for his morning rituals and the guest woke up in the morning with an unsettling sound that was crying ‘Freedom...’ incessantly. It turned out to be a Parrot in a cage that was screeching ‘Freedom…!’ Taken aback by what he saw, the visitor was perplexed to find out that a detached monk, who supposedly has renounced the worldly life, kept a poor bird locked in the cage and make it cry for ‘Freedom’. With great generosity and sympathy the guest unlocked the door of the cage to make the bird free but alas, the bird wouldn’t move an inch but will continue its song of freedom sitting on the cage bar.

Already confused with the human behavior, the savior of the Parrot was now even more beset with the behavior of the bird! However he resolved that it must be the conditioning of the Parrot to be locked in the cage forever that failed it to realize the opportunity it was longing for all this time. With greater compassion the guest put his hand in the cage to take the parrot out and set it free when the bird attacked his hand ferociously and wounded it with its sharp beak. Determined to bestow the salvation unto the poor creature, the guest took the bird out with great effort and courage and set it free in the sky outside the cottage eventually.

As the traveler left for the river to get ready for his journey ahead and returned to the cottage to pay his respects to his host for the night, there was still no sign of the monk around but the visitor’s ears could register a familiar sound coming from the open cage, crying out loud… ‘Freedom…!’

When there is no thought, let alone conviction or action, behind a slogan that is shouted, it remains a far cry that will never become a realization… ever!

…That’s it!

Denial...!

"What we fear most is that we will be denied the opportunity 

to fulfill our true potential," Pallotta says.

Diplomacy...!

George Bernard Shaw went to a store to buy shoes. He selected his shoes and asked the salesman if he can pay by Cheque. The Salesman reached the manager to seek his advice in the matter and the manager in turn took the matter to the Store owner. 

When the Store owner found out that the person requesting to accept the payment of 10 Pounds by Cheque was none other than the legendary author George Bernard Shaw, he invited Shaw to be seated and have some drink while he can arrange for the transaction.

George Bernard Shaw issued 10 Cheques each of 1 Pound for the 10 Pound shoe and the Store owner couldn't hide his astonishment. With a puzzled look on his face the owner asked, 'Mr. Shaw, although there is no problem for me to accept 10 Cheques instead of one, what made you write 10 Cheques in place of one...?'

George Bernard Shaw replied, 'My dear friend, I never offer my autograph to anybody for any reason. Each of this Cheque has my signature on it and you could comfortably sell each of it for 5 Pounds to any amount that my admirer could afford and wish to pay for...'

The Store owner couldn't believe his luck as he tried to figure out the amount of profit he could make on just one sale of a pair of shoes. However, being the businessman that he was, he doubted something and shared his concern with the Writer, 'Excuse me, Sir, but I fail to understand, what good it would do to you, anyway...?'

Shaw with a witty smile on his face replied... 'What do you think, which of my admirer will 'buy' this Cheque to en-cash it? None... I guess! And that would make this pair of shoes absolutely free-of-cost to me!'

Every story doesn't necessarily have a moral... some times it's just an anecdote! And each of my post doesn't necessarily relate to CSR... 

...or does it...!?!

Trilogy...!

A farmer asked his son to work every day at his farm.

His friend said to him, “You do not have to make your son work so hard. You know it very well that the crops would grow just as good…!"

The wise farmer replied, “I am not cultivating my crops, but my child…!"

- That’s called discipline

The baby mosquito went for its first ever ‘flight’.

On returning parent mosquitoes asked him, “How was your trip?”

Baby mosquito replied, “It was great! Everybody was clapping for me…!”

- That’s called attitude

Once upon a time there was a childless King who wanted to choose a worthy successor to his throne after he passed away. He called all the young children in his kingdom to his palace one day and said, “It has come time for me to choose the next King. I have decided to choose one of you as my successor, as my Crown Prince, and groom you to be the King after I am gone.”

The amazed children listened spellbound as the King spoke, “I am going to give each one of you a seed today – Just One Seed. It is a very special seed. I want you all to go home, plant the seed, water it, nurture it, and come back here to me exactly one year from today with the plant you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring to me and whoever grows the best plant will be the Crown Prince, the next King after me.”

After a year has passed, the King escorted a small shy boy to the throne and said to everyone, “One year ago I gave all of you a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But what you did not know is that I gave you all boiled seeds that would not grow. Except this honest boy, all of you have brought me beautiful plants with exotic flowers and even trees with fruit. When you found out that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. This boy was the only one with the sincerity to nurture the barren seed for one whole year with dedication, hope and perseverance and had the courage and honesty to bring me the desolate pot with my seed in it. Therefore, I select him as my Crown Prince to be the next King...!”

- That’s called integrity

Only Integrity with a Attitude of Discipline would take you there... 

Way to go...

'Interesting...!'

When people respond to something in an expression, it does not necessarily mean what it sounds… for example, when a British says, ‘I almost agree…’, it translates to ‘I don’t agree at all…!’ I was just wondering what people, not only British but any human that has evolved beyond sign language and can communicate with spoken words, mean when I hear the expression… ‘Interesting!’ Because, if I get it more often, I must be very interesting person [in the figure of speech, that is!] but the facts contradict the presumption, I believe!

What do people actually mean when they respond to anything as, ‘Interesting…!’

Optimistic Perception [Hypothesis]

1. Interesting… I am enthused to deliberate your idea as I find it kind of out-of-the-box! 

2. Interesting… I would like a little elaboration of it! 

3. Interesting… What you say entices me! 

4. Interesting… I am listening! 

5. Interesting… It excites me!

Realistic Expression [Practice]

6. Interesting… WTF?

7. Interesting… Are you still talking!

8. Interesting… Am I supposed to respond?

9. Interesting… I don’t give a damn what you mean…

10. Interesting… I haven’t heard a dumber thing than this!

11. Interesting… ‘Why on earth I couldn’t think of this before…?’ 

12. Interesting… I just missed what you said but I don’t want you to repeat it!

13. Interesting… You are better off with it as long as you don’t involve me in it!

14. Interesting… When would you learn to think practical and make some sense for mutual benefit?

15. Interesting… You are speaking some alien language, but I don’t want to lose my dignity and disclose my ignorance…!

Intrigued Take-away [Con]

16. Interesting… Thanks buddy, your game is over!

17. Interesting… Where could I get the data for this?

18. Interesting… I must ‘document’ this before s/he does!

19. Interesting… How to manipulate this fool with intelligent ideas…?

20. Interesting… This could move me a position higher in the hierarchy!

Rule no. 10 [Refer to Rule no. 9]

21. Interesting… Oh, yeah! So you think you are that smarter ass who can move me out of here, huh?!?

This is the list that I could make ‘as far as my belief, exposure, knowledge and memory is concerned’; you are welcome to edit it with modification, addition or deletion, as you please… Just remember, whatever you suggest, I will have only one expression for you… ‘Very Interesting!’

Way to go…!