Some moments in our life just change the very course of ours,don't they?
Some moments are so traumatic that our brain tries to hide them under layers of dreams and metaphysical mumbo-jumbo.
Some moments are so ecstatic that we often extrapolate them and exaggerate them and convince ourselves of their veracity even when the scale of the actual events were much less :D
Some moments, just by being so full of courage and hope and positivity, make us believe that anything is possible, that we could actually fly if we wanted to. Well, as long as nobody goes up to the roof and jumps off, these are the moments we should all be cherishing :D
I remember one such moment when I was barely 7 years old. I loved dancing (still do!), my mom loved dancing but was never allowed to in the very conservative society she grew up in. So she decided that I would learn dancing,come what may. It took several pleadings and a full fledged war of words with my dad to convince him but she never gave up. The day she put her foot down in front of my dad, that she did not care if our society did not like 'dancing of girls' or that it was frowned upon, that was the day I realized my mom was something more than just another woman.
This was promptly followed by her taking upon her shoulders the sole responsibility of making sure that neither my study nor my extra-curricular or co-curricular activities suffered at any point. My grades had to be good, my debates-elocutions-painting competitions results were good enough, my dancing grades were not affected by my case load-all because she took pains to chart out elaborate study time tables and dance practice time tables. This was not all-I had ample time to watch TV, read comic books and play with kids. Because come what may, I was not missing out on all the joys of childhood either!
At that time, I did not get how vital this was in my over-all development and how she was a pioneer of sorts in our society. But today I do! While all the women in our society were supposed to be good housewives, cooking and cleaning all the time while all the decisions of the household were taken by the man of the house,she participated in equal measure in every decision of our house. All the women in the apartment complex we lived in used to talk about my mother in hush-hush tones. I still remember one day a friend of mine asked me, 'Is your mother convent educated?' Meaning-in those times, 'Convent educated' was a code for 'ultra modern, western' women. Not that I consider it as a bad thing, but I am sure my friends were using it as a derogatory term in those days!
BUT slowly, their attitudes changed. It was because they saw me. They saw how I almost always topped my class, how many inter-school competitions I won, how I was invited to several dance performances, how I became a pro at organizing dance and skits for our colony Durga Puja pandals, and how seamlessly my mother managed our home and became my mentor and manager!
I have to give credit to my dad also. While it is true that he was a bit more conservative and traditional that my mom, he actually never came in way of whatever she wanted to do. He never said NO to anything she said, and rather tried to reason with her. And once the decision was made, they always stuck together.
It was in this environment of positivity and mutual support that I was allowed to flourish. I deveoped 10 hobbies, I became an independent thinker at an early age, I was allowed to take my own decisions and be strong enough to go through the consequences, I was encouraged to put forth my ideas in front of my parents instead of being afraid of opening my mouth in front of them, I never felt afraid of watching MTV or Hollywood Movies in front of them as their only condition was 'Do your homework on time and then do whatever you want!', I never felt afraid of discussing any topic with them, I chose my career path at a very early age not based on how much money I would make but based on how much passion I felt for what subject, and despite being fat and dark skinned, I never felt the pressure to join a gym or use a fairness cream!
Now how many people can honestly say that they have had such a childhood? I have!
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