THE ROOTS OF RESPONSIBILITY
“The
greatest gifts you can give your children
are
the roots of responsibility
and
the wings of independence.”
Denis
Waitely
I had
written this Post a week ago. But, for some reasons, I delayed sharing it till
this morning…
For
years, we would regularly have a daily newspaper at our door. This stopped when
the Pandemic broke out. We stopped reading the newspaper completely. More than two years
later, on 1st of this April, we suddenly saw the same newspaper being
dropped at our door, again. We thought,
that it could be by mistake. Then, it continued every morning. By now, we knew
what was happening: The vendor was trying to re-form the habit in us, all over
again!
Reading a
newspaper is a habit just like smoking a cigarette. Mind gets accustomed (read
addicted) to a certain pattern and a brand… Today, on the eighth day, when
my wife opened the door for some other reason, coincidentally, the newspaper vendor
appeared to drop the newspaper. He never insisted on we subscribing it, all
over again… He was zestful and sincere… just enquired about the well-being of our
family and left. But, before he left, he had written his mobile number on the
newspaper. He seemed confident, that we would subscribe… And, we did!
Many of us
detest hard-selling. On the other hand, here was this vendor doing his
gentle-selling. I am sure, he must’ve done it to woe back many other customers,
too. It was a calculated risk he was taking… It must’ve worked with some like
us; and it must not have worked with some others…
To me, it was a
valuable lesson… Just as he was trying to stay relevant in his profession, many
of us have been doing it, too, during this post-pandemic period.
Yes, I think, this
is one of those valuable lessons which they don’t teach us at the Harvard
Business School!
Then,
there was this young champ! He is in Grade 8. His elder brother, my student, is
in Grade 12 (CBSE). My student is a special child with major learning
disabilities. Both the kids have been raised by their single mother. She has,
also, trained her 8th-grader to take many household responsibilities…
One of them is towards his elder brother!
The mother had
been very busy for a couple of days as her own mother had to undergo a heart operation.
Obviously, the house-front was a lot disturbed… She was particularly anxious
about her elder son, my student: Whether he would get up from the bed on his
own… Whether he would leave for his classes in time, etc. “Due to his medical
condition, he, often, stays awake the whole night,” the mother had told me
earlier. The homework was an issue… Memory retention was an issue…
Today, the
surgery was scheduled at the hospital early in the morning. The mother had to
leave for the hospital before 6. My student was to reach my classes at 9.30 in
the morning. Around 9.25, the phone rang… “Sir, I am Krish*,” a girlish voice told
me, “I have been trying to wake up Priyam* (his elder brother) for more than
two hours… He is not getting up. But, I am still trying, Sir. Just wanted to inform
you.”
Even if the
young champ succeeded in waking up his elder brother, my student, it would take
another one hour for my student to reach my classes… and, you can imagine the
state of his mind!
“Don’t worry beta,”
I gently said to the caring younger brother, “try your best. It’s okay if you
don’t succeed.”
“But, Sir, I am
still trying,” the young champ said confidently. Some twenty minutes later, he
called me up, once again, to say, “Sir, Priyam has just left home… He should be
there in thirty-forty minutes.”
Our
newspaper vendor and our young champ – you see, they both wouldn’t give up… Daily
challenges keep them on their toes… There is a reason why they have to do
whatever they are doing!
I have, so often,
told young ones, what I learnt quite early in life: ‘Responsibility in life is
not a duty or obligation; it’s our ability to respond to the situations in our
lives.”
This ability to
respond is the strongest – and the foremost – pillar of our self-confidence in
life!
*Names changed
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic's.: www.freepik.com
Video: 9xcel
Comments