In a Moms World the teaching classes never get over

As you climb the ladder in the corporate world your responsibilities increase and you start taking care of the pan-India market. This comes with a lot of sacrifice on the work-life balance. Traveling to outstations, staying in hotels for a week and surviving on hotel food is something that makes people homesick. I can say this with conviction as I have experienced the same during my stint in the corporate world.

The biggest factor which adds to the feeling of homesickness is the longing for home-made food. You can enjoy dal-makhani (Indian black lentil) and tandoori roti (Indian bread) for a couple of days but from the third day, you start dreaming of home-made chapati (bread) and arhar-ki-daal (yellow lentil dish). The day you board an aircraft for your home you call and tell mom to make Roti-dal and Aloo-Gobhi for dinner. The dal-chawal-sabzi, when enjoyed with the aam ka achar (mango pickle) of your moms world, remains matchless to date.

In our ecosystem, the trees that have got the strongest roots are the ones that grow the tallest. Similarly the role of moms in our world is to make our roots stronger so that we can stand taller than the rest in every field of life.

In a Moms world, lesson number 1 starts with showing respect to others

Greeting elders by touching their feet and asking for their blessings is an age-old tradition in the Indian culture. This coupled with Namaste is one of the strongest pillars of the Indian culture.

However, this culture has changed to handshakes and wishing Good Morning! As a result kids believe in a handshake culture today. It’s here that mothers come into the picture and remind them to show respect to the elders in the family by touching their feet.  If an elderly person is coming home like Grandmother’s friend or Grandpa’s distant cousin, mom will make it a point to call the kids from the room and ask them to seek their blessings.

Initially, there is resistance from the kids but gradually it gets in their DNA. A time comes when kids become parents themselves and ask their kids to practice the same culture.

In a Moms world, lesson number 2 starts with eating healthy

The art of enjoying food especially the healthy ones is something which kids learn from their mom. Graduating from junk to healthy food is where mom plays the role of a catalyst. Including green and leafy vegetables in your daily diet is a lesson which kids are reluctant to learn in their childhood but as they grow old they realize how important it is?

The importance of salad in a meal and drinking a glass of milk every morning are counted as healthy habits in a moms world. Sugary and fizzy drinks are discouraged and replaced by fresh juices or milk. Inclusion of dal in the daily meal is compulsory just like mathematics as a subject for science students.

Dining table etiquette’s: an important chapter in a moms world

Eating on the dining table in a sitting position is rule number 1. Eating on a bed or a sofa is a big no. There are several more etiquette’s which a mother teaches her kids. Kids are instructed to lay down the plates and spoons on the dining table. They are supposed to help mom in the kitchen while she is cooking food. Daughters are taught on how to make a round chapati while sons are given lessons on how to make rice and dal. Once lunch or dinner is over, kids are asked to clear the plates.

None of this comes easy for a mom. Kids hardly show any interest in the art of learning cooking. On the pretext of studies, they try to excuse themselves from all activities. So whether it is laying down the plates on the dining table or putting the used ones in the sink they just don’t have the time to do it. If mom calls the daughter to help her in the kitchen during cooking she gets a bland reply that she is busy preparing for her board exams.

Lessons on Dressing up

When they are going to school getting them dressed in the school uniform is a big challenge. Sometimes the tie is missing or sometimes one of the socks is missing. As kids move from primary to secondary schooling, mom gets a bit of relief from this mundane job of dressing them daily.

The day kids grow old a new problem crops up. And this is a problem of dressing up decently. Daughters prefer roaming around in the house in shorts and need to be instructed to dress up properly as guests are coming home. She is reminded several times that while going to a friend’s party, the dress should not be too revealing.  A college-going daughter is given tuition on how to dress in a saree which she finds very tedious and boring. She argues with her mom that it’s difficult to carry oneself in a saree.

On the other hand, sons are given a different lesson. They are told in strict terms that the jeans they are wearing for the last 2 weeks need a proper wash. Reminders are given on proper grooming.

Lessons on Housekeeping

Lessons are given daily to make the bed every morning. Pillows have to be kept neatly near the headrest while blankets are to be folded properly and kept on the footrest side. In a moms world, a wardrobe should look neat and clean. Kids are taught how to fold their shirts, skirts, trousers, jeans, jackets properly and stacked neatly one over the other. Footwear is to be kept in the designated places and can’t be left anywhere in the house.

Study tables are meant to take the load of notebooks and textbooks and they can’t be left on the bed. Laptops need to be packed in their bags after use and the charger wires can’t be left tangled. Drinking glasses and teacups have to be picked up from the study table and kept in the sink.

Graduating to Parenthood

It’s only when kids grow up and start a family of their own, they start practicing the skills they had learned in the classroom of moms world. The moment they become parents they start implementing the teachings they learned in their moms world.

Kids are asked to wish and greet their elders with a Namaste. Pepsi and Coke are a big no. On the other hand Lays chips are allowed only 3-times in a week. Kids are told to include one healthy vegetable every day in their diet. Dinner is served on the dining table and kids can’t bang the spoons on the dinner plate.

The day a daughter calls her mom checking on the recipe of Matar-paneer and asking her which saree to wear on her in-laws 40^th wedding anniversary, the mom realises that her student has cleared the exams.

Read more such interesting stories on my blog:

http://theconatistalok.in

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