Appreciation for Old Age !!

Old Age - All of us go through it one way or other. What we all fail to realize is that, life is a big circle and  the truth "what goes around comes back around" - sometimes with 'extra baggage' as well ! In today's fast-paced world, all of us hear and read about families where elders (especially parents and grandparents) are not taken care of and ignored. Respect for elders and multi-generational households are also dwindling. Many ‘old age homes’ have opened as a reflection of this change, where elders live either from choice or because there is no one to look after them. I recently came across an interesting e-mail forward, which prompted me to post this blog. Here is a snippet from the same:

"Mr. ABC booked an air ticket for his parents' trip back to their home town instead of booking it in a train and was awarded with a very emotional thank you from his parents, as it meant a great deal to them to be travelling by air, for the first time in their whole life."

This is probably a trivial incident. I am sure there must have been various instances in each of our own life's experiences from where we can take countless examples. We often take our elders for granted and undermine sacrifices that they have done for us over the years with the simple statement - "It was their duty to do the same for their children". But if we really recount such 'simple sacrifices', it will be countless. There was a selflessness in their actions towards us, making our life better within their limited capacity, without us knowing the hardships that they might have gone through to satisfy our demands and delight us.

For example, during a traditional function like Diwali, they would have borrowed / saved money in advance, foregoing their needs, to ensure that the children are not disappointed about their fun with fireworks or new clothes !!! For such innumerable selfless acts, what do they get in return when they get old? Lack of emotional support, neglect by the family members, feeling of insecurity, disrespect and loss of dignity. Children often cite reasons such as being too busy with their own work, 'family' and children (yet they are always able to spend both time and money on holidays, expensive clothes, restaurants/parties...). They blame it on "Generation Gap" and 'brand' elders as 'conservative, boring and out-of-touch with reality'. When our own children grow up, it might be surprising to find us being categorized as old-fashioned, ignorant of latest gadgets / technologies :-)

On the same note, in many families, parents and their married children are not able to get along with each other. We also know about many parents, who still treat their married children like kids, dominating their choice of career, lifestyle and even family planning. The children are also lectured on degrading traditional values, lack of shouldering responsibilities and undermining sufferings of the earlier generations.

Having said that, younger generation and elders should respect each other’s 'culture', feelings and compromise to some extent.  Children need to spend time listening to and addressing specific emotional and material needs of our elders, and treasure them.  After all, our elders expect them to be heard, age with dignity, spend time together with the loved ones and a lot of love !! It is never too late to appreciate and cherish elders for their roles in our lives.

Our Toddler's "full" movie experience in a Theater !!!!

Should we say, our toddler's first successful movie experience in a movie theater, or our success (as parents) to give her that experience in a theater !?!?!? Whatever it is, we were so happy that our little angel loved watching a "full" movie in a theater - Dreamworks' "How to Train Your Dragon" Animation movie. She is in love with "Toothless" (the Night Fury Dragon) and "Hiccup" (Viking Boy). She sat through the entire movie without getting scared of the dark or sound effects or irritated, with the fact that she is restricted to sitting in a seat, rather than being able to roam around.

She was also very pleased with the Kids Pack (Popcorn, Skittles, and Sprite :-) we got her before we entered the movie hall. It was much more enjoyable for us to see her emote, than the movie itself. Her "Oh.. no!" when Toothless is captured by the Vikings and imprisoned on their ship.... her "Ooooooooooooo" when the Queen Dragon comes out of its nest to fight the Vikings...... her "Appa.... dragon avan friend aaiytaan" (meaning.. Dad... the dragon became his friend !!), when Toothless and Hiccup become friends... were some of her expressions, while we watched this family movie.

It was worth the visit to our local "Groton Cinemas 6" complex to "experiment" a movie. after a long gap of over a year. When she was an infant, one of us would be standing outside the movie hall, taking care of her and to keep her occupied. So, we had waited for the right time to get her started again. Overall, we were one big happy family, when we got out of the movie hall, promising more visits in near future :-)

P.S.: When parents decide to take their toddler to a movie, please ensure that the movie suits their taste, is not too lengthy, and most important of all, it is an animation / cartoon movie !!!! Remember, movie is for them to enjoy and get comfortable with this atmosphere, so that you can try to take them along to your favorite movies at some point.

P.P.S.: This is the first time which we have seen an US movie hall, with over 50 people in one screening, especially for a kids' movie, which had been running for over 4 weeks now :-) Usually. there are no more than 10-15 people...

We like to Party.. We like, we like to Party !!!

Last fortnight was packed with parties !!! It started off with Madhu's B'day party last Sun (Apr 4). On Apr 6, we had my B'day dinner party with our friends. Then we had 3 more B'day parties in a row - Madhu's playgroup mates. We also had fun at MSAT (Mahindra SATyam) Family Meet on Apr 9 evening. With so many parties, all three of us have been extremely busy, at the same time, there was no dearth of fun !!! It was amazing to see how a toddler enjoys these parties, when compared to infants.

MSAT team organized a "Kids' Corner" event, where kids, grouped by ages (0-3 yrs, 4-8 yrs, and 9 yrs and above) participated. They were supposed to express their thoughts on Spring season, as colorful drawings. The jury had a tough time short-listing the best depiction in each group. They also conducted the classic "Musical Chairs" game for the toddlers. It was a beautiful sight to see these little angels, scramble to get hold of a chair for themselves to move up in the race !!!

These events, along with Kids' Dance Floor music (nursery rhymes, peppy numbers like "I am a Barbie girl..") by the DJ, spiked the energy of the toddlers high enough to keep them going through the entire party, till almost midnight. There were also other family games, providing an opportunity for the families to get together and have fun !!

During dinner, the stage was open for the Family Talent Show, which again attracted mostly kids. The kids recited slokas or sang nursery rhymes and took home some exciting gifts, for braving the stage and the audience. Madhu also went on stage to proudly recite "Shuklam... Baradharam" sloka, and was very thrilled when she got her gift (her favorite Magic Bubbles blower).

Then, dance floor was open for everyone... Both the kids and their parents danced to the rocking tunes, till they ran out of fuel!! By the time we came home, Madhu was exhausted (of course) that she slept the moment she hit bed. It was so amazing to see how, even a couple of years of growing up, makes such a huge difference in the way kids react to crowds and parties. Madhu, for example, who used to get annoyed in crowded social gatherings, enjoyed to her fullest in all these parties. As parents, seeing her enjoy these moments, doubled our happiness as well !!