Thursday, May 03, 2007

being responsible-a brighter outlook

The other day a cousin of mine helped Bruthi eat her peas. B is fussy with her food, so we let her eat what she fancies.

I thought he was being very strict with B. Later, he told me that it's our responsibilty to guide children. And that this was the ripe age to guide children(B is two years and two months). Surprisingly B didn't make a fuss. Anyways, she shouldn't have created one, simply because, she was eating something she liked.

All of us play responsible roles in life. Responsibility comes in different shades, a daughter, an aunt, a sister, a neice, a grand-daughter, a friend...... These are some of the roles that i play.

It is packaged in such a nice way that we fail to realise the weight of it. Most of the times, the happiness, joy that we obtain from it overshadows the magnitude.

Helping mother with soiled dishes... assuring father that i can pay a bill...... assisting B when she learns to associate a new word with a novel item..... wishing C on the day of her exam.... consoling a friend at college... supporting my grandma, when she climbs down a flight of stairs....

All of it appears to be mundane, yet under obligation. An obligation that we should learn to enjoy, start to derive freshness out of it.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh...yeah we have to start to derive freshness out of it...i like this phrase...it appears boring after a while with the same course of life..but down the line when we know an accomplishment of theirs associated with us...we feel the pleasure of being a part of it..the love the care we gave them..

all these does seem mundane today...but adds a lot more value to tht persons life..and this will be realised at a later part of our lives..and how we wish those days would come back...

Anand N. Balaji said...

I'm reminded of two maxims after reading your article. The first one by Gandhiji says: 'Be the change you want to see in the world'.

And the other, by Martin Luther: 'You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say'.

Good article!

mouna said...

anon,
i couldn't have said better!!
time makes us realise.

anand,
#1: definately. i wouldn't expect nice things from others, unless i give the same to them. it works!

#2: astoundingly true. there are instances where we wished we'd said something. god knows why, but we kept mum. we later realise that it would have made an impact, be it small or big!

Manu said...

I would like to give analogy for the mentioned situation
When the plant is small, we put fences around it so cows and other animal don't come and damage it. But the very plant when grows into a full fledged tree, gives shade and shelter to same animals.
Thus its neccessary to take up the responsibility of the growing child.
else it will be us who are to be blamed for any misconduct and misfortune later.

mouna said...

manu,
super illustration! it's so true :)

Shiv said...

Mouna,

Yes ! Responsibilities come in various disguises & shades.But ultimately it is very much essential for every soul.

mouna said...

shiv,
essential and i think it's worth it, all the troubles, the pain, the joy it encompasses.