It was D’s first day at school. With a heavy heart I dropped her at the school gate and waved back at her, as she went in sprightly with her teacher, waving non stop at me. It was a half day schedule, it being the first day of the academic year. I paced up and down the school garden, prepared to receive a wailing kid, running towards me, any moment. I sharpened my ears to listen to stifled sobs, in case the teacher had not let the child cry out aloud. All I could hear were the chorus recital of rhymes and peals of laughter from the play area near me. After what seemed like a century, little D came out of the class, jumping up and down like a spring, and surrounded by a big tribe of kids. “This is T, my best friend!”, she introduced a tiny girl with cute ponytails, to me. She went on to introduce two other best friends and five not-so-best friends. I was bemused. How can strangers whom one had known for barely a few hours be deemed best friends? She hardly knew anything about them. And not one, but three best friends! Ain’t three a crowd? I was amused to know that, my progeny belonged to a different gene pool, one that had supreme social skills!
To this day, she makes friends at the drop of a hat and strikes conversations with strangers, irrespective of their age, as if she had known them since the previous birth (not to forget, it’s been only a few years in the current birth). ‘Networking 101’ is the first lesson I learnt from my offspring. “Learnt” is probably a wrong tense. “Learning” or “struggling to learn” are the right ways to put across my attempts.
She also coaches me on public speaking. “Imagine everyone in front of you don’t know a thing! Look at the farthest point in the room, if you are too nervous, and gradually bring your focus back to the audience”, are the pearls of wisdom she offers before every presentation of mine. “No one is going to eat you up!”, she reassures with a bright smile. I am learning and progressing every day, thanks to the dose of positive energy and motivation that this little human being is constantly offering me.
She always has time for me, on good and bad days, in the middle of home works, projects and examinations. She lends a ear to my woes and challenges, though I hardly manage to find time to explore her world. This tiny fragment of me has shown me what unconditional love looks like, when my mind is constantly clogged by a stream of if-then-else permutations and combinations. She has often shown me the mirror when I lost my cool and expressed my anger in hysteric ways. Being patient and accepting a person as is, with all her/his flaws, is a key learning that I have imbibed from her. She has given me second, third and umpteen chances to be a better parent, without expressing disappointment or judgement.
She has been the catalyst for me to rise from the ashes and conquer the skies. I believe that, behind the success of every parent, stands a younger version of him/her, cheering on and fueling his/her growth!
This story is inspired by the 100 day storytelling initiative by Your Story Bag. This is my story for day 7/100 of #2023TheStoriedWay
