Redefining Life

It’s a Sunday morning and I hope for a calm and relaxing morning. “Even the newspaper is designed to help you unwind,” I smile, flipping through the supplement which carried various articles for entertainment, reflection, and self-improvement.

The smile on my face freezes as the headlines blare out. Blinded by IIT craze, parents herd 10 year olds to coaching.

The article goes on to elaborate on how children in grade V are now being sent to IIT coaching centres. The peer pressure is so much, that later, discussing the article in English class, one of  my students asks me, “Am I doing something wrong? I seem to be the only one not attending these classes.”

Stress and competition have become the new normal.

Do we want our children to be happy or do we want them to be rich and successful? I hardly see many happy children around today and I bless my lucky stars that I was born in a generation where   play time meant running wild in an open ground rather than being locked up in an AC room with video games and computers. Those were the days when we knew what the smell of damp earth meant, when we felt the sand slipping beneath our feet at the beach and happiness meant just a sour and salted piece of mango. Contrast this with the present day scenario where our children are so trapped in the virtual world that they by- pass the real world!

Is that the world we want for them? The last I heard about it, life was meant to be a play where we experience all that nature offers, and in turn give Her all we have to offer. We would scale Her mountains, enjoy Her gentle breezes and scary storms, smell Her roses, and then give Her some of our own gifts in the guise of a song we composed or a comforting hug to an elder in the family. Isn’t it amazing how the definition of life changes so quickly! Well then, if change is the only constant, it is time to change the definition of life yet again.

What if we all decide that happiness does not have to mean a five star meal, with two successful adults who have made it big, sitting together but worlds apart on their phones, each with their own agendas and their own decided opinions?

What if we define success as doing what one loves and being content with ‘what is’?

That very evening I had the occasion to visit my niece, an MBA from IIT Madras.  She had got married and left a lucrative job, to take care of her two year old. The little one was busy playing by herself secure in the knowledge that her mother’s presence was there if she needed it.

As I saw the sparkle in her eye and the warmth of the home in which she had the fortune to grow, I knew she would grow up to be a balanced adult. As I saw the quiet joy with which my niece was pursuing her hobby of painting, I knew that this was success.

Millennials are now giving life a new definition. Living at a relaxed pace like our grandmothers did but minus the financial dependence. Being educated in the field of one’s interest   so that one could be self-reliant if the need arose, and within the freedom that that self-reliance brought, choosing to live life on one’s on terms.And so , maybe if we change the definition of success to mean contentment and warm human relationships instead of just material progress, our children will be more at ease with themselves and others. Perhaps then they will find the time to gaze up at the stars , reclaim a lost world of wonder and take time to revel in  the immense magic and mystery that is life.