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Courtsey: Freedigitalohotos.net |
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Courtsey: Freedigitalphotos.net |
It has been such a long time since Khalil Gibran walked on this earth, spreading the flowers of wisdom among the commen populace, who even till this day has been largely ignored by over-zealous parents around the world, sporadically marked with blemishes like the most dishonourable "honour killings", when he says about children," Give them your love, but never your thoughts for Life goes forward and never backward."
To look at the innocent toothless, pink face and eyes which looks at you as if you are the elusive fortune of a poor, wretched soul, it would be impossible not to be moved to want to provide the best for the offspring. But it is very important from the perspective of the child and your own self to understand the driver to your intention. What you do has nothing to do with your generosity or kindlness or magnanimity of soul, you do the best, you want the best for your child because you want to do it, because nature has made you want to do it.
There could be some darwinistic angle to it, given that Human child is the one which takes most time to come to stage of independence and standing up on its feet. This very nature of feebleness of our offspring makes it absolutely imperative for human parents to want to provide the best for their kids, and there is not reason for us to want to expect a slavistic gratitude from our child on that account. We do it because, on this generosity the continuance of human species hinges and for no other reason. Though I do sheepishly concede that there is some selfish tinge in my personality, just as it is there in everyone elses which makes me speak in pretended, conspiratorial tone with my little one and ask her, as I comb her hairs after the shower,"Will you take care of baba when you grow up?" and she dutifully responds "Yes, I will take care of you, shower you, cook food for you and even send you to the school" a la "Will you still need me, when I am six and four, sixty-four." It is absolutely human to keep falling into the trap of wanting a selfish return to what we do, but all logic and pragmatism wants me not to want any of it, at least nothing more than an acknowledgement of the love which I could not help but provide helplessly. I hope I could offer the same freedom of love, rising above and beyond the basic human expectation, which I have come across in immortal words of Faiz Ahmad Faiz, when he says,"
Saans roke hain Nigaahen, ki na jaane kis dam
Tum chali aao, palat jao, ya mud kar dekho
Tumne mud kar bhi naa dekha to koi baat nahin
( I stay behind watching with bated breath, as I do not know which moment;
You will come back, turn around or just glance this way;
If you decide, however, to do none of these, I will not mind)
In the meantime, I soak in the warmth of a cozy saturday evening in a comfortable blanket as my daughter blissfully watch RaOne, for the nth time, remembering some of the dialogs in the process, and as she has discovered an imaginary friend, Jeevan, who is there with her in all her imaginations, and who keeps walking in and out of her life plans including those of getting married. Amid all the curse that has gone to SRK for making as some say non-sensical movie, he must have something innocently beautiful in the movies, which makes my daughter love the movie and G-One so much. She loves repeating "Appa, Hero", "Tum haar gaye, G-One" and other such dialogues from the movie, and the enormisity of this happiness which her words bring, is itself sufficient to render the cup of my life to such fullness that anything beyond seems to spill out.
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