The good old-fashioned ways

I just sharpened a pencil for my son the old-fashioned way - by using a blade instead of a sharpener. And I realised how I sometimes crave to live life the old-fashioned way. Of course, "old-fashioned"  for me means the way I lived before I brain-washed myself that I couldn't possible exist without certain "comforts".

I just want to live one day in the simple way that I had before I started getting Miss Uppity-Up. How would I live that day then?

After waking up in the morning I wouldn't have any of the 'exotic' breakfast that I have come to expect every day. I would eat a chapati with milk. A bath would mean using half a bucket of hot water mixed with another half of cold water. A running hot shower would not even be the stuff of dreams. I would use only shikakai to wash my hair. No shampoos, no conditioner. After this, I would wear clean clothes that would be folded in a way that no ironing would be required. If I had to step out of the house, I would wear simple slippers, and walk to my destination. I would not need my vehicles. Or if I had to travel far, I would just use my bicycle. If I would feel thirsty on the road, I would just wait till I headed back home or find a coconut-seller. Bottled water would be nowhere in the picture. For lunch, I would eat whatever was made at home. I would then lie down on a chatai for my afternoon siesta or curl down on the floor with my book. Tea time would mean having tea and chivda or ladu made at home. A walk in the evening would never turn into a shopping expedition. Having dinner would mean eating the same food that I ate for lunch. After a nice, simple, uncomplicated day, I would head to sleep on a nice, simple, uncomplicated mattress on the floor.

There was a time when I actually lived like that. In fact, everyone I knew lived like that. That was the way of life about 20 years ago.

Times changed and I never even realised when my necessities changed. Some things came into my life and definitely made my life more comfortable. Some other things came into my life and made my life more complicated. I never understood when this happened.

Ten years from now I might not even remember my life from the stone age. And I might just yearn for the "simplicity" of my life today.

How do I teach him to lose?

My five-year-old...the apple of my eye. How do I teach him to lose? How do I make him understand that winning is not everything? How do I teach him to understand that even if you do your best, it may still not be enough...but it is enough to make you proud of yourself. In a world where your success is judged by your victories, how do I make him understand that the real victories are not visible at all? How do I teach him to lose the battles in life to win the war of life in the end? How do I teach him to trust himself to give his best and not be the best all the time?

I give him unconditional love. How do I  teach him to love himself unconditionally? How do I teach him to respect himself because the world may not respect him? How do I teach him to look at himself through his own eyes, and not through the eyes of the world? How do I help him gain confidence in himself?

My five-year-old...the apple of my eye. How do I save him from the hard path of learning how to lose? How do I save him from learning how to lose too late?