How to Treat Parents When They are Old

In India, the concept of old age homes is becoming relevant due to the emergence of more and more nuclear families. However, it is not considered a socially acceptable solution as such. The laws in India require well settled individuals to ensure and pay for the 'maintenance' of their aged parents and they can be sued to ensure this is implemented. The typical family set up in India is a very emotional one. For the same reason, you may find many young people suing their parents for partition of property but you will rarely find parents suing their kids for securing any monetary benefits. That is how it is and has always been in India.

As a follower of Sri Sathya Sai Baba, I want to share one of His most profound teachings. You don't have to be a believer to practice this teaching. His teachings are typically relevant to non-believers too irrespective of country, religion or financial background:

He says,

"You will find at home pictures of God, kept in a special place for worship. In every home, however, there are living gods, whom the sages ask you to serve and worship. They are your parents. They gave you life. You owe your health and happiness to them. They love you, they serve you, they give as much as they can and even more. Yes, they often take less food, so that you can have your fill. They try to save money through various means so that you can be at school, or live in a hostel, or attend a festival or go on a school tour...Let your mother be your God. Let your father be your God. That is the teaching. How else can you thank them? What else can you give in return other than your love and service? Be kind, be soft and be sweet to them. Do not be rude and raw. Try your best to make them happy, obey them, for they know much more than you, of the world and its dangers. That is the way to worship them."

Language Confusion

Language plays an important role in communicating smartly and effectively. For lawyers, language is the tool that needs to be constantly polished to perfection through the drafts they work on for clients, the persuasive arguments they put before the courts and even when delivering lectures or explaining strategies to their interns or clients. For any and every purpose, it becomes a lawyer's duty and responsibility to be smarter than others in grasping the dynamics of language and using it at the right time and at the right place to gain edge.

In the October 2010 edition of Readers Digest, there is an interesting article titled "How to Sound Smarter." Basically, it is the RD version of all confusing words and random rules you missed in English class. In this post, I am going to select some of the chosen RD words.

1. Use of 'Returned back': Very often, we use the term ' I returned back,' without realizing that it is appropriate to say "I returned" or "I am back" but not, "I returned back."

2. How to pronounce the word 'content': Most professionals pronounce 'content' as 'kontent' and there comes a bit of confusion when you hear it said as 'kaantent.' According to the Readers Digest, you can pronounce it as 'kontent' when you are referring to the subject matter of a book, film, project or website, just to mention a few. However, when you are trying to say that you are satisfied or content about something, the word can be pronounced as 'kaantent.'

Hope you found this post useful. If you can think of other words that we tend to use in a mixed up way, do share them. It would be great to discuss.

October 2010, Family Vacation in Kochi

I have been irregular with my posts but here is how I am making up for it with a detailed update.

With my family, I have been enjoying a brief spell of absolute fun filled days. It's becoming addictive, really. Daily discussions with my father, Justice TV Ramakrishnan about work keep me focused and motivated about my work and goals.

My mom, Veena Ramakrishnan, pampered all of us with delicious spread of food that is nothing less than a feast. The delicacies span varieties of tasty chicken, fish, and vegetarian curries and sabzi too. We just hogged and hogged Mom's delectable food every day. We are still doing that:)

My sister, Nandini and her husband, Mridul, were with us for a few days too. It became more exciting when my nephew, Neel also came over. My four year old son Adi is not used to having a 'big brother' around the house and they became fast friends. Of course, Adi had his spell of temper tantrums but Neel was very caring, protective and understanding. Once while we were having dinner at a restaurant in Kochi called Lokah, a little kid dressed in yellow came rushing just like that, as though to hit Adi and immediately, Neel was there as he felt protective about Adi.

Adi calls Neel 'my brother' and it was awesome to watch their relationship unfold so naturally. Neel and I played some typically boyish rough games and of course, cricket. Neel taught Adi how to play Chotta Bheem game on the Internet and how to fish using a fishing rod that has magnetic baits to catch fish. All that is required is a bucket of water and the little fishes would catch the magnetic tape and yes, get fished:) Neel spent some time teaching Adi how it works. The boys had so much fun. We took so many pictures and we even had a family photo session at a studio where we took family snaps and all of which I will definitely upload so that you can all see what fun we had.

We did a thousand things and enjoyed a lot but this is just an overview before the pics come to your view. Take care, and do send in your thoughts.

Traveling, Now Relaxing with my Little Boss.

For the last one month, I've been pretty busy, traveling, meeting clients and visiting places. The difficult part is that I couldn't spend much time with my son, as work commitments had to be prioritized. Finally, today, I am back with my son, enjoying his non stop chatter and litany of little complaints and demands. When he saw that I am back, I can't stop thinking about the way his eyes lit up and his smile seemed to be brighter than the day. He put his little arms around me, and began talking and talking about everything I had missed hearing.

Today, i don't care what parenting rules I am violating, but I am going to let my kid boss me, because I missed him so much and I just don't have the heart to say "no" on this very day. Maybe its too soft an approach but I am just going by my intuitive feeling while dealing with my four year old, than go by rules, regulations and techniques.

Last but not the least, I am glad to be back blogging. Missed u all, too.