What will my child become?
"How do I know what my daughter wants to do?", asked a fretting mom about her 12 year old. Though not an expert , I ,looking through the glasses of experience replied that it is too early for the little girl to form her mind. But whatever she does has to come from within her and should be nurtured with passion and devotion.
Those words, a universal truth, I had said with much conviction, as I had seen the same happening with my children.My daughter started singing at the tender age of 3.We were lucky parents in that we never had to compel her to take to music. It came naturally in the flow of life , being born into a musical family.But at times, the same flow of life would tip her priorities away from her music which is ingrained in her. And at times it would be a phase of ebb, often the outcome of her striving to achieve 100 percent at this tender age and her own sense of not attaining it, simple distractions or simply laziness that would keep her away from music . A little motivational talk from the right person usually brings her back and then she continues forward with renewed zest.
The other day , after a performance when she felt she hadn't given her best, she met her idol ,National Award winner and 7 times Kerala State Award winning music composer ,
Sri M.Jayachandran. I could see my daughter ,with wide eyes silently absorbing each word uttered by Sir who was telling how music or any other pursuits has to be a passion , a devotion such that you would leave anything and everything behind ,for it.Only then success would come knocking at your door. He , an Electrical engineer, left engineering behind when the call of music started overriding everything else. Such a divine talent that he is, had years of struggle preceding success.He narrated the story of how he had started at the Tharangini studios in Thiruvananthapuram, as a background musician for documentaries.He would pile into a friends small Maruti car with his keyboard and work everyday from 12 am till 5 pm for a paltry sum of 1000 rs.Sleep was for mere 4 hours or so everyday. This went on for a couple of years, but the positive outcome as he sees it , was that he became well versed in background scoring.Over the years, whenever we have met him, tit bits of his musical journey and the struggles there in, always fascinate my daughter and has been a great source of motivation too. May God bless him for giving us so many eternally beautiful songs , and even after attaining national acclaim ,for inspiring many with his humility and friendly disposition.
We as parents, can only provide platforms for development for our children. We can motivate them to excel in whatever they do. Rare are those children who from a very young age show their interests and inclinations. Especially with the vistas open in front of them these days, they have plenty of choices and digressions.We can subtly show them a way,rather than forcing them to travel on a particular path ( which might be what we had wanted to travel on , when we were young) . We as parents can concentrate on instilling confidence , rather than saying that " you are not fit" for something. Let them falter in their steps, let them fall and learn, and we can support them just as how we had done when they first learnt to walk. But a clear vision of what to achieve, a passion to keep the vision intact and a devotion and firm believe in ones abilities should be the child's own. Let us try to be facilitators ,at the same time help them to be grounded , sensible and be sensitive to what is happening around.
Those words, a universal truth, I had said with much conviction, as I had seen the same happening with my children.My daughter started singing at the tender age of 3.We were lucky parents in that we never had to compel her to take to music. It came naturally in the flow of life , being born into a musical family.But at times, the same flow of life would tip her priorities away from her music which is ingrained in her. And at times it would be a phase of ebb, often the outcome of her striving to achieve 100 percent at this tender age and her own sense of not attaining it, simple distractions or simply laziness that would keep her away from music . A little motivational talk from the right person usually brings her back and then she continues forward with renewed zest.
The other day , after a performance when she felt she hadn't given her best, she met her idol ,National Award winner and 7 times Kerala State Award winning music composer ,
Sri M.Jayachandran. I could see my daughter ,with wide eyes silently absorbing each word uttered by Sir who was telling how music or any other pursuits has to be a passion , a devotion such that you would leave anything and everything behind ,for it.Only then success would come knocking at your door. He , an Electrical engineer, left engineering behind when the call of music started overriding everything else. Such a divine talent that he is, had years of struggle preceding success.He narrated the story of how he had started at the Tharangini studios in Thiruvananthapuram, as a background musician for documentaries.He would pile into a friends small Maruti car with his keyboard and work everyday from 12 am till 5 pm for a paltry sum of 1000 rs.Sleep was for mere 4 hours or so everyday. This went on for a couple of years, but the positive outcome as he sees it , was that he became well versed in background scoring.Over the years, whenever we have met him, tit bits of his musical journey and the struggles there in, always fascinate my daughter and has been a great source of motivation too. May God bless him for giving us so many eternally beautiful songs , and even after attaining national acclaim ,for inspiring many with his humility and friendly disposition.
We as parents, can only provide platforms for development for our children. We can motivate them to excel in whatever they do. Rare are those children who from a very young age show their interests and inclinations. Especially with the vistas open in front of them these days, they have plenty of choices and digressions.We can subtly show them a way,rather than forcing them to travel on a particular path ( which might be what we had wanted to travel on , when we were young) . We as parents can concentrate on instilling confidence , rather than saying that " you are not fit" for something. Let them falter in their steps, let them fall and learn, and we can support them just as how we had done when they first learnt to walk. But a clear vision of what to achieve, a passion to keep the vision intact and a devotion and firm believe in ones abilities should be the child's own. Let us try to be facilitators ,at the same time help them to be grounded , sensible and be sensitive to what is happening around.
Comments