I always worry how Ishan is growing up without a proper
Bengali upbringing. I know it sounds foolish, but I truly want him to know how
my baba and mum grew up, how me and my siblings grew up…. those small
happiness, small moments. In a big city like Mumbai, all that he gets to do
never look sufficient to me. One has far more independence in a smaller town.
Big fields, big parks, mango orchards to go and steal, neighbours who are more
like family. I try to inculcate in him the habits that we all had….. I force
him to read books, I force him to play board games. The list is long…..
But day before yesterday I witnessed something and it made
me think for long. In the evening, Ishan wanted to go out and play with his
friends and I obliged. There I saw him doing something unusual. He and his
friends wrote a big OM (in hindi, of course) in a card board, they stole some
Diwali diyas and lit them….one of the kids got a mat and all of them sat down…..
someone managed to get kumkum powder and all of them made tilaks….. then Ishan
became the purohit and recited all the mantras that I taught him…..starting
from Saraswati mantra, Durga, Shiva, Manasha. One of the kids asked him to
recite Hanuman Chalisa. So he started…Jai Hanuman Gyaan Gun Sagar……. and after
that what he said I did not understand because he does not know the chalisa…..
but all the other kids thought he knew and they were all listening with
rapt attention. The way he played the part of a purohit was commendable, he was
very confident. Then he remembered the naam kirtan that my mother does at home
and he started - Jay Jay Dayananda…….. all the kids also chanted with him…….
I was amazed to see that he remembers the mantras which he
repeats before going to sleep. That he took the role of purohit and did the
puja….. that he knew when to offer flowers and when to chant the
mantras..... that they chose to do a puja instead of playing and fighting and getting hurt…..
Suddenly I was a proud mother. Not everything is so bad to
worry about……….. but I am a mother….a selfish one who wants her kid to get the
best of everything……. So…….. bye bye till I worry again!!
To worry is natural for a mother. So you'll continue worrying even when he is the best in everything. Don't worry about culture because you cannot push him to embrace things in which he is not growing up naturally. That will eventually become an extra burden for him. He may not follow the typical customs, but he will take the essence of our culture. He will be a Bengali, a Hindu and an Indian to the core. Because you're giving him those values. I think that's more important. You're an amazing mother, and Ishan is a promising kid. Enjoy the moments of togetherness and watch him growing. Whatever we do, no matter how much different we are from our parents, in the end, 'phirbhi dil hay Hindustani!'
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