“Buy one of these; I want to keep it”, I heard Adi pleading.
“No. They are dead. And these are not the type of fish you can keep as a pet”, Kuhoo explained while she tried hard to stop me from galloping past that fishmonger’s shop. She had caught sight of the ‘Rohu’ fish and I had caught that obnoxious smell.
Promising Kuhoo to buy ‘Rohu’ on our way back, I managed to move ahead, but my perseverance test followed.
“That fish has come from India ?
“May be.Yes”
“Like Nemo. Right ?”
I was thinking what to answer. Adi continued, “But it is dead now. If it had a second chance, it could have survived like Nemo”.
I spent next half an hour explaining him about the food-chain, about several things which aren’t exactly like what we see in movies etc. etc. And we bought vegetables on our way back.
Later in evening the point about ‘second chance’ returned.
“Papa, I will write this again. OK?” Adi looked at me.
I didn’t reply. Although I was a bit unhappy with his writing speed, I didn’t expect him to write it over again. I do get annoyed at times with the video games philosophy of second life, second time or second chance. I believe they have been somewhat spoiling the kids; as I hardly see them understand the importance of doing things first time right.
After an hour, Adi came back. He had written the whole chapter again; just to see me happy.
God I was happy. I explained him about examination, importance of practicing, and keeping focus during the exam hour etc. But I saw the place of second chance in my world, which not only established his writing ability but also his willingness to do better.
The second chance implies hope, optimism and readiness towards correction.
I can see why it exists in a kid’s mind, though I can’t see why it doesn’t in our minds. There are times we easily get caught by our obstinacy. Even when we realize that we may have made a mistake, an odd resistance within does not let us start over. We continue on the mistake until everything falls apart towards desolation. We just don’t give ourselves a second chance.
Interestingly in today’s adult life we find it very difficult to even realize our mistake. But the second chance doesn’t necessarily relate to the mistakes only we make. It also applies to our response to others mistake. Is it hard to forgive and give someone a second chance? Does that change our righteousness?
Perhaps the heaviest thing we carry in our lives is grudge. Absolving ourselves is as important as absolving others. There is no point carrying such burden. There are multitude of perspectives and preferences that have actually contributed to a complicated society today. So even a right step may only be relatively right.
At least once in our lifetime, we all have been prisoners of our love, hatred and prejudices. And I do not see world becoming any simpler. There will always be one who will let you down, one who will break your heart, one who won’t come back.
So why not live life without regrets? Why not give ourselves a second chance?
“No. They are dead. And these are not the type of fish you can keep as a pet”, Kuhoo explained while she tried hard to stop me from galloping past that fishmonger’s shop. She had caught sight of the ‘Rohu’ fish and I had caught that obnoxious smell.
Promising Kuhoo to buy ‘Rohu’ on our way back, I managed to move ahead, but my perseverance test followed.
“That fish has come from India ?
“May be.Yes”
“Like Nemo. Right ?”
I was thinking what to answer. Adi continued, “But it is dead now. If it had a second chance, it could have survived like Nemo”.
I spent next half an hour explaining him about the food-chain, about several things which aren’t exactly like what we see in movies etc. etc. And we bought vegetables on our way back.
Later in evening the point about ‘second chance’ returned.
“Papa, I will write this again. OK?” Adi looked at me.
I didn’t reply. Although I was a bit unhappy with his writing speed, I didn’t expect him to write it over again. I do get annoyed at times with the video games philosophy of second life, second time or second chance. I believe they have been somewhat spoiling the kids; as I hardly see them understand the importance of doing things first time right.
After an hour, Adi came back. He had written the whole chapter again; just to see me happy.
God I was happy. I explained him about examination, importance of practicing, and keeping focus during the exam hour etc. But I saw the place of second chance in my world, which not only established his writing ability but also his willingness to do better.
The second chance implies hope, optimism and readiness towards correction.
I can see why it exists in a kid’s mind, though I can’t see why it doesn’t in our minds. There are times we easily get caught by our obstinacy. Even when we realize that we may have made a mistake, an odd resistance within does not let us start over. We continue on the mistake until everything falls apart towards desolation. We just don’t give ourselves a second chance.
Interestingly in today’s adult life we find it very difficult to even realize our mistake. But the second chance doesn’t necessarily relate to the mistakes only we make. It also applies to our response to others mistake. Is it hard to forgive and give someone a second chance? Does that change our righteousness?
Perhaps the heaviest thing we carry in our lives is grudge. Absolving ourselves is as important as absolving others. There is no point carrying such burden. There are multitude of perspectives and preferences that have actually contributed to a complicated society today. So even a right step may only be relatively right.
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| Pic by Ravi Garg |
At least once in our lifetime, we all have been prisoners of our love, hatred and prejudices. And I do not see world becoming any simpler. There will always be one who will let you down, one who will break your heart, one who won’t come back.
So why not live life without regrets? Why not give ourselves a second chance?
2 comments:
Bhaiya,
Its great to read about Adi's reasoning, his perseverance and your patience as a father to explain things.
As for the questions you ask in the end... as always they are true and profound!
Regards,
Rishu
its so beautifully written! hajaar perspectives in head on this one, but i got work to do.
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