One fine evening, Harini cut short her play time and came home running. She directly shot the question : "Amma, am I a Brahmin?. Kavya wants to know".
Initially, I wanted to say that this was out of syllabus and will be explained when she is 10 years or so :-) Each time when the sanitary napkin ad pops up on the T.V, that's my excuse ...
But I managed to use this opportunity to give her an intro to how the caste system was formed, how the kids took up the same profession as their families etc. I explained that since now any body can choose any profession they liked, caste system does not make any sense in this era. I concluded dramatically that there are only two types of people, the Good and the Bad.
We both were satisfied with the discussion, until after an year, when the school asked Harini to fill in her personal details in the Almanac. One of the fields was :
Caste - FC/BC/OBC/MBC/SC/ST etc etc
My kid was bewildered with the options. She wanted to know which option had to be chosen. I knew it was the moment to assert what I believed in.
I told her that the school had missed one option. I made her write "Not applicable".
Initially, I wanted to say that this was out of syllabus and will be explained when she is 10 years or so :-) Each time when the sanitary napkin ad pops up on the T.V, that's my excuse ...
But I managed to use this opportunity to give her an intro to how the caste system was formed, how the kids took up the same profession as their families etc. I explained that since now any body can choose any profession they liked, caste system does not make any sense in this era. I concluded dramatically that there are only two types of people, the Good and the Bad.
We both were satisfied with the discussion, until after an year, when the school asked Harini to fill in her personal details in the Almanac. One of the fields was :
Caste - FC/BC/OBC/MBC/SC/ST etc etc
My kid was bewildered with the options. She wanted to know which option had to be chosen. I knew it was the moment to assert what I believed in.
I told her that the school had missed one option. I made her write "Not applicable".
And did they accepted the form? :( we try to instill good values in our children, but its imp that they know reality as well. Gauri had the same q 5 years back when this form had come home. I don't know what did she understand when I talked bat it but she conveniently assumed thereafter that no veg eaters are non Brahmins and veg ones are brhmins. I let her assume that instead of increasing confusion.
ReplyDeleteVery good blogs priya, u were always good at pen. So keep writing. It's pleasure to read these stories. And Harini looks so adorable! :) keep going, waiting for your next blog.
A bold step and a good job. I wonder how you got that idea. But, Schools should accept the same. My +2 student compelled me to write as 'Atheist" in the place of religion and told me that it is approved by the Govt. If Govt. approves this "Not applicable" we all will be happy. Hope this happens.
ReplyDelete@Madhu : Luckily they accepted the form at school. Thanks for your encouragement dear.
ReplyDelete@hema ma'm : good to know about your experience. Actually, I have something to share about the same topic of gods, religion and atheists, I will blog about it soon.
my thoughts are going off topic.. as the topic is already over and what struck me is the way you handle sanitary napkins ad.
ReplyDeleteNot in syllabus and wait till 10 yrs shouldnt really be the answers. Dont kill her curiosity by such answers..
If question has arisen in kids mind now, why should he/she wait for 2-3 yrs to get the answer? If you dont answer, kids will find their ways to get the answer and one day they will stop coming to you.
When we have right information and right mindset, we should not try to postpone it just because we are not comfortable explaining that piece of information.
Can you imagine? i have explained the logic behind why women get periods to my 7 yrs old kids because they asked about it to me.
U r really cool vidya. Now its high time I explain about it ...
ReplyDelete