Homework

Hate is an extreme word.. now-a-days used as often as tadka in a sabzi. But I really mean every single letter of it when I say that "I hate homework". I always have.... be it...doing my own or ensuring my daughter does hers. I did reasonably well in school, but the day I graduated out of college, was easily one of the happiest days of my life, because.. Yay!No more homework(or so.. i thought).
I then went on to graduate out of the Air Force Academy and become a military Pilot with sorties to log almost every alternate day with breakfast at Bangalore, lunch at Lucknow and dinner at Delhi.. and dare i say..  i was a happy soul!.. and when I was not Getting high(literally), I whiled away my time coordinating base flying and women crying (as a welfare coordinator). So to sum it all up.. life was pretty good without the mandatory 'homework'.

Then kids happened and things got ugly. I received my first wake-up call when my daughter turned four and saw birds sitting on the HT power lines for the first time. She wanted to know why those mortal creatures never got electrocuted (considering her lesser mortal mother once had!). Taken by both, surprise and awe and my chest swelling with pride at the fruit of my ovary, I told her it was becuse they were bad conductors of electricity... but it didnt stop there..

Daughter: Bad what? But why? you mean you were good?

Me: Err… um… like… potential difference is zero or something. Actually, God made it that way. God is great. How about pizza for dinner? Go ask Pappa what he wants!

How could I admit to my child that when my eighth class science teacher was teaching Faradays Laws, I was busy trading WWF cards n tazos on the last bench?
      Unfortunately, kids don’t stay that dumb and innocent forever. They soon figure out when you’re faking and if you want to stay in their good books and earn their respect you have to put in the work.. lot of it!

Becoming a parent is like appearing for a lifetime examination... it tests all your faculties and skills. It all starts with testing you physically and emotionally. Then, it continues with testing your intellect and knowledge. And as the kids hurtle towards adulthood, they will test you on your values and self-belief. In short, having kids will take you through the entire process of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and lead you to self-actualisation. Whoever called it 'the circle' of life!

On a positive note, we should stop cursing our government and the education system, and give them credit for making parents intellectual and smarter. They can rightfully slap us with the 2% jana-baudhik cess. They have designed the education system in  a way that parents who spent most of their school and college years getting wasted with their friends in the canteen eating chinese bhel, suddenly start cracking open those cobweb clad, dust laden oxidised Physics and History textbooks and start studying alongside their school-going children.. and this is not by choice.

So tomorrow when my daughter gets a 20-page book report project from school that researches the life of various tribes in Africa, I bet I can be eligible for a Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award and Xhosa, Yoruba, Zulu and Maasai would all be my 3-am friends for life (they are the different tribes.. incase you are left wondering). The beauty of our education system is that it doesn’t just improve academic performance; it also enhances skills in parents that they never knew they even possessed.

Now you know why schools like parents to be completely involved in their kids’ activities. It’s their sneaky attempt at educating adults and increasing the National Intellectual Quotient, Its their way of curbing female illiteracy(especially  small towns where women are not allowed to study further) without causing a nation wide protests, dharanas and riots.. ek teer.. do nishaane! I know of my house help who has appeared and successfully completed her class 10th at the age of 42, thanks to the pressure from her Son claiming that "What will you do by coming to my PTM... you dont understand English anyways!"

So ultimately, you can either accept the challenge or just sulk incessantly. Sometimes, you have to dig deep inside of you to mine for these dormant skills. Like.. when my daughter was in the LKG and decided to dress up as a Brinjal in a fancy dress competition, it was time to face my demons... I had no skill in tailoring, but by the time my daughter was through with her academic year, I could easily add 'fashion designer' as a legit skill set to my Resume and even create my own line for a reputed fashion week..."The spring-summer vegetable collection -2016"

If this was true in my case...as working mother, my heart goes out to the ones who chose to stay at home. Apart from being professional Home Managers, Stay-at-home moms also end up becoming confident and creative multitaskers who can take on any challenge in this world! <#bringItOn>

Im sure... a deligent attempt to find out about the exponential relationship between the  'knowledge level and capabilities of a typical mom' V/S the 'grade in which her child is' , could prove to be a research worthy topic! By the time a kid reaches the 12th grade, the Mother should be legally allowed to add Fashion Designing, Choreography, Creative Writing, Tutoring, Sports Coaching, Music, etc to her set of skills acquired.

Its amazing, the kind of benefits homework offers... it can be attributed as a primary contributor to the Overall Development of the Nation. It is socially empowering, intellectually enriching and lots of other good things...

... but the fact remains... "I hate Homework"!