Those who can ... Do

In the old days, the saying went "Those to can do, those who can't -- teach!".

Fast forward to the present where it has morphed to "Those who can, do; those who can’t, set up a conference call to outline targets for doing."

:-P

How Much Should a Person Consume?

I've just wrapped up reading "How Much Should a Person Consume?" by Ramchandra Guha. The book makes interesting reading, particularly the parts that talk about the history of the Indian ecological movement. As it is Guha's style to treat history as a living continuum, rather than merely a thing of the past, book traces Indian ecological movements right upto the present (or 2006, the year the book was written).

Today, I was part of a parents gathering asked to come up with ways to save the earth. Listening to group after group brought home that we are indeed "ecological onmivores", with a sense of entitlement and an expectation of sacrifice on the part of others less fortunate than us to help us sustain our lifestyles while somehow saving the earth.

Some of the ways to "save" the earth espoused by the group:

• Build dams to collect and save water (What about the flora, fauna and people who inhabit the areas to be submerged by the dam? Not to mention the climate changes that dams bring about in the areas that they are built)
• Stop using airplanes (This was said by someone who looked much traveled -- he described how the airports used to be empty and now are "more crowded that railway stations". Flying planes into the ozone layer resulted in pollution according to him!)
• Control the population (The same person who wanted "aam janta" to stop flying also said that basically more people meant more carbon dioxide in the air. Well then -- shouldn't he have refrained from having children? What's also ironical is that this person's offspring are likely consume more ecological resources and do more damage to the environment that the children of the have-nots)
• Teach children how to save the earth (While it is important to teach children to be aware of their surroundings -- respect nature, re-use, re-cycle; they are being subjected to extreme views of what the world will be like in "2070". This frightens them. Surely this is not the desired impact?)

There was however, one voice which was a ray of hope in the group (no it wasn't mine ;-)). One parent spoke about how complicated and sophisticated our lives have become -- lives that take away from the planet without giving back. This is true. If only we step back and simplify our lives just a little (by little), we will go a long way to leaving our children a living planet.

Our Children Need Human Moms

Amy Chua's "Tiger Mom" article in the WSJ prompted this blog post.

I'm (an Asian/Indian) mom and there are some guiding principles of her parenting style that I totally agree with:

• Nothing is fun until you're good at it (and I believe when you're good at something, the sense of achievement does wonders for your self-esteem)
• As a parent, one of the worst things you can do for your child's self-esteem is to let them give up
• The best way to protect ... children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they're capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away

That said -- I totally disagree with her ways of actioning these principles.

Every child does NOT have to be good at the violin, piano and math. Children have varied talents. Instead of forcing a child to be good at something that YOU the parent care about, figure out where your child's aptitude lies. It's not that hard -- expose your child to a variety of activities (including academic ones), watch the keenness with which he participates in them and *listen* to what he tells you about them. From personal experience, I can vouch for the fact that a child will enjoy the practice and challenge in subject matter that  aligns with aptitude.

If your child is involved in an activity that isn't working -- *help* him ease out of it, without letting him feel that he isn't "good enough" for it.

If you are able to discover the aptitude of your children and help them get good at it -- then you are truly preparing them for the future, letting them see what they're capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away.

Let tiger moms bring up tiger cubs. Human children need human moms :-)

P.S.: Quora has an interesting discussion of Amy Chua's article.

Let School Days Be School Days

The Ayodhya verdict. A public fight between CM and Governor of the state. A state language "sammelan". What do they have in common? No prizes for guessing -- forced closure of educational institutions by state diktat.

We are ruled by a government that publicly proclaims it will not be able to protect the safety of our children as they travel to school in their *well-marked* school buses and sit down to study in their classrooms. By a government that suddenly decides it is better for schools to shut down because a state language "sammelan" is being held.

Maybe (and there is no evidence of this) the government wins brownie points with it's electoral constituency -- but what about the impact on children? Parents?

Sudden school closures force working parents to stay away from office as well. Is anyone tabulating the economic loss? Un-planned school holidays also result in weekend school days to complete "syllabus". That's extremely taxing on children AND parents, not to mention disruptive of any weekend activities and plans.

The current CM seems to believe his opponents are driving him out of power and is resorting to mumbo-jumbo to fight their "black magic". I don't know about the black magician opponents, but voters like me certainly will -- during the next election.