Let your child be a child. by Azim H Premji

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A small Persnl Email to all.

Please spare few minits of your time.

 

I totally agree with this email.

I too have a 13 year old daughter Devika who is in the 7th grade. She is a

normal grader. At times i get very upset with her scoring and shout at her or

yell at her at times even physically give her one on her Butt. This is out of

Frustration . We spen ona lot for their education , we also spend a lot for

them buying this and that when and what they requier for personal issue etc.

They know thatthey will get what they need for we are the source for them to

have it all. So I keep telling her. We give you al that you need in life, pay

for school Dhs 500 in addition to Dh 500 another expense for tutions alone out

of our Monthly income and then again expense for the other things as well. She

is lucky for both the Parents worka nd are bale to manage this situation But

what about other children whose Parents have a low income and cannot afford all

this? They study far much better than Our Children.

Now I have started to give up seeing the tight Schedule in their life example:

Up at 6am out to school by 7am back again at 2:30pm and then tution from 5 to

7:30 or so. Dinner at 8:30, keep stuff ready for school next day hit the bed by

10 or 10:30pm .The day has ended for them. So this is their schedule for the

day.They are basically a Red Warrior Ant in life.

I have told my daughter. You donot need to score 100 out of 100 or stand in the

5 rank each year, but you have to give your full strenght and learn from your

mistakes. if you scored 40 I am happy for you BUt that does not mean next time

also you have to score the same No but try to score more with Positive attitude

and gain more.

The other day she came back home with half her score and yes i was very upset i

hit her but I knew it was worng i was upset for after all i did for her she has

started to bring scores which I am sure she can do far better.

I have left it all in her hand. I told her I dont want you to be a High

Designated Individual but i want you to be recognised in your Field of future,

and Our Support will be with you alwyas but you have to climb the Lader by

yourself with out any support. So choose your own feild in Life, learn to climb

the Ladder and when you reach the top we dnt need the Credit but You need it for

Our Blessings are always there for you. Now she is a bit better and scores more

marks and is Happy for herself.

She wants to be a Vet and I wanted her to be a doctor ( Eye Speclist ). To help

people with their Sight. But now i think whats more Important is her decision

and not Mine, For she has already decided in her mind and with Gods blesings I

wish Both My Children the Best.

To every Parent out there: Compramise with your Children and show them that

their Future lies in their own Hands with All our support and Encouragement.

I end with my Blessing to all Children who need the Elders support most importantly Parents Support.

 

Pranam,

BabithaNarayanan <savitha (AT) pacific (DOT) net.sg> wrote:

Great advice, but how many will be bold enough to take it?If you are a

parentAzim H PremjiIf you are a parent, you have many aspirations for your

child that mayinclude him or her becoming a doctor, an engineer, scientist

oranother kind of successful professional. I believe these aspirationsare

driven by your thinking about your child's future, and hercentrality in your

life.Since good education is often the passport to a good future, Ipresume it

leads you to getting your child admitted to a good school.When you encourage

your child to study hard and do well in schoolexams. To bolster this, you send

him or her for tuition classes. Thiswould have primed your child for board

exams and entrance exams,thereby leading to admission into a good professional

course. Doingwell at college increases the probability of landing

a good job. And agood job means the child's future is ensured.I am neither a

psychologist nor an educationist, and what I willnow state may seem

counter-intuitive. I think that these aspirationsand actions might be doing

more harm than good to your child. Tounderstand why, we need to re-examine some

of our fundamental assumptions.In the first place, I have seen time and again

that living for somedistant future goal also means you do not live in the

present. Thedistant goal will always translate into an external measure

ofsuccess, such as exams. And most exam-focused children startforgetting what

it means to be a child - to be curious, mischievous,exploring, falling, getting

up, relating, discovering, inventing,doing, playing.Childhood is very precious;

precious enough not be wasted by theartificial pressures of contrived

competition, by too many hours ofbookish study, and by school report cards that

simplistically wrap

upan entire human being in numbers.The second assumption is that education is

merely a ticket tosocio-economic success. Given the state of our country, this

realitycannot be ignored. But restricting education to only this aspect is,

Ithink, a very limiting notion of the aim of good education. Theprimary purpose

of a school is to guide the child in her discovery ofherself and her world, and

to identify and nurture the child'stalents. Just as every seed contains the

future tree, each child isborn with infinite potential. Imagine a school which

sees children asseeds to be nurtured - here the teacher is a gardener who helps

tobring out the potential already present in the child.This is very different

from the current view which sees the childas clay to be moulded - where the

teacher and parents are pottersdeciding what shape the clay should take. There

is an old (andforgotten) Chinese saying: ``Give a seed to a potter, and you

will geta bonsai.''Even in a commercial organisation, to make profits we do not

haveto chase profits. Rather, we need to build an institution that givesevery

employee an opportunity to do meaningful and fulfilling work.Create an

organisation driven by values of innovation, integrity,customer centricity and

care. And as you practise these valueseveryday and moment, you will see that

the profits take care ofthemselves.Similarly, dear parent, this is my request

to you. Do not give upyour child's present to secure his or her future. Give

your child thefreedom to truly explore life with abandon. In doing this, you

willsee your child flower into a creative and sensitive human being. Andwhen

this happens, everything else - money, social success, security -will fall into

place automatically.Let your child be a child.The writer is Chairman, Wipro Ltd

 

 

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