So I’ve been going grey over the last few years, evidently aging starts well into our late twenties!
To colour or not to colour seemed to be the question, as this greying process introduced itself to me.
A person who colours their hair obviously cares enough about themselves to look well groomed, young and presentable (because lets face it a young face with grey clusters around your hairline might come across as someone who is lazy and unkempt) And then there is the other option of accepting how one looks and having the confidence not to have to hide this process of aging. Both options seemed to have positive connotations to them.
What I’m trying to get at is that this decision of what to do when we start greying is binary. And both options are valid and right in what they serve to do. Everyone has an point of view in life and is best when not imposed on the next person.
The story of Aaliya’s life however seems to be quite the state of the world today. She has an opinion about EVERYTHING and insists we subscribe to it or there is hell to pay for. Strangely though in this case I don’t seem to mind at all. I’m extremely “tolerant" of all that I am forced to listen to simply because of the manner it is said in; She’s so charming its hard not to comply with her commands. There is wonder in everything she sees around her and to live that wonderment through her is priceless.
I met a blind man on the road in Bangalore recently, he was having what I thought was a a traumatic day, but to him it was just another day. An auto had rammed into his cane that morning and broken it (for someone who’s mobility depends on that cane you can imagine how devastating that might be), yet there he was walking near the median of the road with his broken cane. By the time I pulled over another gentleman had guided him safely to the pavement. I offered him a lift to where he was headed, 2 kms away, he refused as he didn’t want to bother me. I bullied him into sitting in the car with me only to hear that he was headed to a bus stop to travel 9 kms away in Bangalore traffic during peak hours, to donate his blood in return for an amount of money he was unaware of, so that he might travel back home another 11kms that evening only to take another bus the next morning and travel another 15 km to buy a cane that would cost him Rs 1000. An amount he didn’t have currently as it was his first week at a new job. Here was a blind man in a new city with a broken cane walking on non existent pavements on a busy road, traveling by bus in Bangalore traffic on Bangalore roads wasting two whole days of his precious life to buy a cane that he had to money to pay for!
I offered him the money to save him the trouble of that evening and do you know what his response was? He said,”No thank you but I don’t want people seeing a blind man taking money from another hand.”
And here I am with my life's biggest problem being the 4 extra kilos I’ve put on because I’ve been having too much food to eat! It really puts things in perspective doesn’t it?
I’ll leave you with a letter I wrote to Aaliya when we decided on her school not because its relevant to anybody but because it covers what I believe is the most important thing in life - HAPPINESS!
I hope this year is filled with happiness for all those who have seen and been in places no one should ever have to be.
I hope this year is filled with happiness for those who have had to leave their lives behind to find a HAPPY place for their children to grow up in.
I hope this year is filled with happiness for everyone who has lost a loved one.
And I hope that all the bad guys find some happiness in their lives so that they can stop destroying others’.
Oh and in case you wish to know which option I chose for my greying hair, come see us in Hongkong:)
HAPPINESS ALWAYS!
Happy 2016!
"My darling Aaliya,
Today is a big day for us! We've just filled in your very first school's application form and are about to send it. Im a little nervous, not because I don't think we've made the right decision but simply because its such a huge decision to make in my opinion. It's a very heavy feeling that I'm going to try and describe to you as best as I can.
You were born to us and so you have no choice when it comes to parents and what we have to offer you in helping you grow up to be the best version of yourself that you can be. But a school is something we decide on that will have a huge impact on you and your influences as you grow up. Which is why I feel its such a big decision to make and feel so responsible in ensuring we have made the right one. I know its preschool and everyone will probably say "Who cares? they are so small" But in my opinion its this age that will determine your levels of self confidence, self loving, positioning in a social setting and how you integrate into the world at large as you get older. If we can help build all these up as high as possible, we have no doubt in you building on it academically and otherwise to achieve your full potential. Which is why this school is so important to us.
Your father and I have been very lucky to have very high levels of confidence in life. I don't really think we did much to feel this way, it had to do with the encouragement, acknowledgement and appreciation we received very early on in life I guess. But this has meant that we are inherently happy people. It takes a lot to get us down in life. Success, career, money, achievement all of that is secondary.... what is primary is happiness in life and I hope this school is the right step towards that.
This will be your very first school. And what a fantastic school it is. You are actually so fortunate to be able to go to a school like this. Its a place where YOU will be celebrated, your curiosity will be fueled, your questions will be answered, your doubts will be cleared, your dislikes will be acknowledged and your misbehavior addressed and corrected in a constructive manner. It's a place where you can play and learn, explore and learn, create and learn, watch and learn, act and learn, dance and learn, interact and learn but above all learn without sacrificing your individuality in anyway. Its not a factory that will churn out 20 toddlers who know their alphabet and numbers at the age of 3. Its not a 'sit down at a table and repeat after me' kind of classroom. Its everything papa and I could have dreamed of for you and more.
I hope you love it as much as we do and enjoy every day having the most fun you can. PLAY PLAY PLAY but above all be happy my baby, because thats what its all about.
I love you more than you could ever know,
Mama"
