Children and vulnerability
Pankaj Mandhane is a fantastic human being. We have a mutual friend Ronu, who was struggling due to some family matters. I met Ronu and solved the issues for him.
I knew Pankaj was concerned about Ronu hence I then called Pankaj to update him about the latest developments.
Pankaj heard everything and respectfully enquired, “Do you have a few minutes? I need to talk with you about something that has left me clueless”.
Since, I was walking back home, I had 30 minutes of talk time. This is how the conversation went…
Pankaj – “Naren, how important is parenting in shaping hard work and self-belief?’
Naren – Very important. Why do you ask?
Pankaj – I know a few people who are very very poor and yet they are hard working, focussed and filled with self-belief. I also know a few children from very rich families, who are always bickering, always dissatisfied, always displaying low self-esteem. Why?
Naren – The truth is, one set of parents have not been able to provide riches to their children. The other set of parents have successfully provided that. Now, this is what the world can see and measure. What they cannot see and cannot measure is what attitudes and thinking patters have the parents given to their children. I see a remarkable difference there. In this case, the rich kids have made their vulnerability their identity. The poor kids have made their vulnerability their inspiration.
Raise children who turn their vulnerability into their inspiration, who turn their vulnerability into their motivation.
