MATURITY COMES NOT WITH AGE
“Maturity comes not with age, but with acceptance
of responsibility. You are only young once;
but immaturity can last a life time.”
Edwin
Louis Cole
Nirav*
is a bright kid. Why did I call this 17-year-old, who has joined one of the ‘best’
Commerce colleges in South Mumbai, a ‘kid’?
Well, the ‘kidhood’ – I mean
the ‘childhood’ – as Edwin Louis Cole says has nothing to do with our age… Some
of us stay ‘kids’ for our entire lifetime, you see!
Poets and spiritual
teachers sing praises about ‘being childlike’. Hope, we never hear it - ‘Being
childish’!
So, our smart kid from one
of the ‘best colleges’ in South Mumbai, is not the one the poets and spiritual
teachers sing praises about… He is ‘Childish’, plain lazy. Laidback!
Am I making a big deal about
it? Weren’t we all been there, done that?
We are lying, if we say ‘No’!
We all loved to sleep
like logs when Sun was almost halfway to mid-noon. I am talking about the days
when there weren’t any gadgets and PlayStation to fiddle with, no 24 x 7 TV
channels… not even electricity, leave alone a landline… Life was too simple;
but, it did not spare us from our laziness. Yes, we all have been there, done
that – I mean, what a Nirav or a Nisha of today’s time do. Our parents, too,
had screamed and splashed water to wake us up at 12 noon... Our parents, too, had branded
us as ‘Laidback’ and ‘Useless’…
And yes, some of us
stayed so; while some of us became parents and teachers to scream at our ‘kids’
and brand them as ‘Laidback’ and ‘Useless’!
On
a serious note, let me reassert, that, in life, maturity comes with accepting responsibility
and not necessarily with age…
Some get it early, some
late… and, some don’t get at all…
Hope, Nirav gets it
soon. For, in every respect, he is smart. But, he likes to sleep a lot longer.
That’s his Achilles’ Heel, you see!
I have been moving
mountains to make Nirav understand, that he is smart enough to join our online
session at 9 a.m. And, he has been moving mountains to make me understand, that
it’s too early. His parents have been on my side and have kept insisting on
inculcating fine discipline in him. “Sir, he is capable. He used to get up very
early for his school. Now he has become lazy… He wastes his time on watching
movies, videos and playing games at night… Be strict with him.”
So, the invite for every
online session is sent to Nirav and his parents, both. To parents, as a back-up
plan. Today, at 9, others had joined, but not our Nirav. I started calling and
texting… No response. Finally, message arrived from his mother, “Sir, I just
woke him up.” When he connected after 10 minutes, the girls in the group
started laughing… So sleepy and lifeless he sounded!
Nirav was angry… “Why are
they laughing? ”
Well, after the session,
I replied to Nirav’s mother: “Yes ma’am, he joined. I had to keep him awake all
through the session. As soon as the session was over, he sent me this message.
I am sharing with you, just for a laugh and not for complaining…”
Nirav’s message to me: “Sir you ruined my entire sleep!”
I used to wonder – and smile
in my heart – why was Nirav’s WhatsApp
status read perpetually - ‘SLEEPING’!
I hope, it changes, soon…
I hope, this kid grows, soon!
*Name changed
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic’s: pixabay
Video: Dare to do Motivation
Comments