hmm

The hardest part of being the mother of a gifted child is to watch them making choices based on their perceived notions.
I wish it would be simple like this.You get the offer letter from the school, you accept the offer and done. You are all set to study in the most prestigious school on a full scholarship.

As a mother, I wanted to tell my son that he is making the biggest mistake in life by not accepting the scholarship. You don’t throw away such opportunities!

But then again, am I not the one who taught the same boy
that you learn from the mistakes you made?
that money isn’t everything?
that money shoudn’t be the motivating factor for the decisions he makes in his life?
that I will stand by him and hold his hands if he ever feels he is alone?
that I will always respect his decisions if he gave me valid reasons?

If my son, at the age of 12 can walk away from 100,000AUD, because of something he believes strongly in, then I guess I will stand by him.

All I ever wished for my children was that they will be happy and that they will wake up each morning being grateful that they are alive and the world is theirs to conquer.

And even before I gave birth to him, I had hoped that one day I will have a son so I could teach him Kipling’s if.. 

When I was doing the 3rd year medicine, I had read an article in the newspaper about puthra kameshiti yagam  being conducted somewhere in Kerala and how popular it was.
My mother gave birth to 4 children each time hoping for a son to carry the family name.
I never understood why parents felt compelled to do poojas just to have son and why a daughter can’t carry her family name?
However, That being said, I had hoped that I will have a son, not to carry the family name, but just to teach him ‘if’

Today, I woke him up..with a smile on my face..because I know in my heart that my child didn’t sell his soul for 100,000AUD..and that knowledge makes me a proud mother. ( may be his decision was the wrong one, but  then again…….)

If  by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you  

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

3 thoughts on “hmm

  1. Wow. Thats such a brave and unsual decision. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about it.
    I cannot even begin to imagine saying NO to such a big opportunity more than the money (ofcourse its a bonus).
    But again, doing extra ordinary things which ordinary people cannot imagine is what got him this honor.

    Im just curious on what his attitude towards employment contracts will be?Will he refuse to conform? In a society based on transactional relationships, will he adapt and perform?

    Maybe 10 years down the line, this attitude might make him the founder of the next big thing (like Google or something).

    Im proud and scared for him at the same time.

  2. Jina:the last sentence in your comment is exactly what I feel..all the time..
    I don't know what the future holds for him and I don't have any hopes that he will be working for any companies. He already owns his own company!

  3. I think he is already in a state where others don't need to tell what's good. So he is someone who can decide of his own and stand for it rather than look up to others and hear for decisions and later blame them. Anyway I feel not to keep any plans what he will become. Because he might not really stand for the money part always. I guess he might be a better human among. Best wishes.

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