School admission...

Today would be itched in my mind, forever. Reason being, my child gave her first interview today!

Schools are becoming so expensive now a days in India. And education is very competitive. Such is the competition that even for admission in pre-primary, kids need to appear for verbal tests! How lucky we had really been. Life had been so easy for us, or so to say. At the least we didn't have to worry of rhyming a poem in front of a lady, whom we were seeing for the first time in our life. I remember as a child, all I did was play. Climbing trees along with my brothers, playing cricket, getting dirty in the mud was fun for us. We obviously had no internet, mobile, or even a TV! So fun to us was getting completely grubby!

Obviously we had to study. We had our scheduled time for that. Mom was very strict in that regards. But she was also the one who showed us the importance of playing. If it hadn't been her, we wouldn't had had such strong built! What she didn't instill in us was competitiveness. As we grew up, in school environment itself we learned that we have to compete. The grading system made us lock horns with our friends! Slowly, we became more and more combative. And here we are today, so  in the hunt that we are pushing our children into pitiful darting right from such young age. What have we really become?!

Frankly, I feel ashamed as a mother to having pushed my four year old into all these! Am I not just sweeping away her childhood from her? At the age of four, my mom surely didn't put me into competition. She gave me freedom. Even today she tells me to give my child the right to play. I am guilty of having put my child to attend an interview to get a seat in the school. Pathetic we have all become, as parents. 

Seriously this needs to change. System needs to change. So what if someone's child scores better marks. So what if he/she is better in sports/literature etc etc. My child is also good at many other kinds. Maybe it's not this but that! Why we, as parents, force the competition on our kids. It's actually we, who needs to grow up. And just put a full stop to this dumb tussle!

My child cracked the interview and did get a seat in that school. But it has also given me a lesson. I want my child to enjoy her childhood. And hence I promise I would not force her to grapple. I would just teach her to face life, to live and love, to enjoy, to just be herself. And if I succeed in that, I would consider myself as a good parent! Someday I would surely be one...