I was looking at this commercial in the TV the other day. It is from HDFC Life :
It was such a touching commercial about how a single father encourages his handicapped daughter to learn Kathak, a dance form. It is like a complete film that has been shot in 3 minutes. It took me through my own journey when I was growing up.
I take pride in how self-reliant our family is. I wouldn’t be modest if I say that I am the most self-reliant person for at least 10 blocks around my house. I don’t have a problem cleaning our house windows myself; I haven’t seen anyone around changing their car tire themselves; I haven’t seen anyone making a wooden table or shelf for their house; I do the dressing of the wounds that my sons get now and then; I cook; I garden all by myself without the help of any garden worker; I can repair plumbing on my own; I wash clothes ( not in a washing machine), I wash kitcheware; etc. I can go on and on. But it seems like there is nothing I can’t do on my own. Sorry folks, this is not my most modest post 🙂
But if I think about it how did I become like this? It comes from my parents. My mother always had a maid for washing clothes and washing utensils. But she made us wash our under garments ourselves. I was very reluctant at the beginning. Why must I be washing my clothes when there is a maid coming, I’d say. But she never let go of it. She always insisted that we do it ourselves. And it became a habit. After taking my bath washing my under garments would become a habit for me. Another habit she inculcated in us was to wash our plates. After eating our food we had to wash our own plates and keep them for drying. It became a habit and has stood me in good stead. Whenever the maid doesn’t turn up it is me who does the washing of utensils at home, these days 🙂
My Dad was another avid Do-It-Yourselfer (DIYer). He would keep me occupied during my weekends with his errands. He’d keep the weekends for servicing his scooter. I had to be with him and help him in getting the tools he asked for or for tilting the scooter suitably so that he could tinker underneath it. If some electrical equipment at house broke I’d again be beckoned as a helper to him to keep up the supply of tools he’d be asking for. We even white-washed the entire house with a spray paint attachment to our vacuum-cleaner once! And whenever he wanted to do gardening I would be the one who’d be digging the ditches and the vegetable beds. When our house was getting constructed he’d drop me at the site in the morning and come and pick me up in the evening. I used to be overseeing the work. This is how I spent my summer vacations. All these, I’d be doing reluctantly because I didn’t see any of my friends indulging in the same activities. They’d be happily playing their cricket. But when I think back the self-reliant person that I am is the result of all this I went through with my Dad and Mom.
This day I thank them for making me what I am.
Lord of the Rant 