Microstory 51
My daughter draped a shawl around my wife’s shoulder. My wife did not respond. She waited for some time. She then asked her, ” What is the word you would say in return when someone does something nice to you?”, My wife said, ” Thank you”. Get ready to get reverse mentored!
Microstory 52
After she put down the phone, I heard my younger daughter telling her friend ” she is so mean”. I knew she was upset. I asked her with whom she was talking over the phone. She told me the “name”. I thought she is going to keep this in mind for some time. The next day morning I saw her talking on the phone and telling someone ” I am missing you”. I asked her with whom she was talking and she said the same name! How can we learn this from kids? I am pondering about how to forgive and forget overnight now. 2020 is the year of forgiveness as I declared to my wife.
Microstory 53
One day I received a call from an unknown number. I took a guess that it might be from my native place. The next five minutes changed me. On the other side was my mathematics teacher who taught me and then took tuition till class 10. He had got my number from my sister a couple of days back. They met incidentally in a mall. I always tell people that I got interested in the subject because of him. It was a moment of gratitude. It was a moment of awakening how I can do more by being in touch with my past mentors and teachers. So this time of the year I made it a point to message and wish all my past leaders with whom I have worked.
Microstory 54
My blindspot on the morning of Jan 1st: I was in the kitchen and was looking at a particular dish and thought that my wife would have asked the cook to prepare the same menu as she always did in the past. It turned out to be different. A day before she had given me the feedback on my blindspots and forgiveness and also my task is to identify more blindspots with the help of others this year.
Microstory 55
We were coming in the car from the airport. It was getting darker. In the middle of the highway as the car was going at a swift pace my younger daughter asked me, “How did grandfather pass away?” I didn’t know how to respond. I took a deep breath. I explained to her during the time we were in the airport about tobacco being bad for health and she instantly connected that with him. Later in that week, she was watching Zindagi Nahin Milegi Dobara, in that there was a smoking scene. Naseeruddin Shah was seen smoking in a scene and she said, ” he is not smoking that much?” She remembered how smoking was injurious to health. I noticed that images in the airport, scenes from the movie and my discussion about my dad brought a certain connection with her. I feel we can educate kids better with more connections.
Microstory 56
I told my daughter not to waste the food as there are people who cannot afford food even once in a day. She asked me this question, ” How does my not wasting the food feed, other people?” At that moment I did not know what to say. But somehow I made it up by telling her that, ” You should learn to take less so that others can have full“. I made it a point to make her eat the same food later for lunch. Sometimes we may not be able to convince kids with logic. I have to only focus on showing how we can communicate to them in a manner that is accessible to their generation. In one of my flights, I had a chance to see #eattherainbowchallenge. I guess these kinds of initiatives are the way forward.
Microstory 57
That weekend we had to chase a lot of errands ( a short voyage to all the places I have been making trips like Banks and government offices). My wife also joined me. Since it was difficult to park, I thought it was good to get her support. My wife volunteered to be in the car. I noticed that she was in a state of flow as she rekindled herself through her Kindle books. I must have crossed in front of her multiple times yet she never looked up as she was engrossed in reading in the middle of that chaotic street. She later told me that she enjoys minimum chaos and was on overdrive. I learned that day one thing, “If you are an avid reader you can read in any nook and cranny.”
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