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Morning tea was the only time when Ramesh and Rani used to sit together and talk for some time. Three-four days before Lohri, while having tea, Rani said, “Ramesh Ji, why not call the children on Lohri this time? It has been a long time since they came last.”
“Call them during the day; they must be sleeping right now. It would be good if they join us on this occasion. There will be a lot of fun in the house on Lohri otherwise Lohri will be celebrated with the kitty party members in the club.”
The elder daughter Anjani expressed her inability to come saying that her son Aryan would be participating in the sports competition in the school on the day next to Lohri. Younger daughter Sanjana consented to come. As soon as Ramesh came home in the evening, he asked, “Did you talk to Anjani and Sanjana, are they coming?”
“Yes, I talked to them. Sanjana will come and that too, alone. Son-in-law is going out on a business trip. Anjani can’t come because Aryan will be participating in a function to be held in the school day after Lohri.”
“It’s a good news. If Aryan participates in extracurricular activities right now, it’ll be very useful for him in the future. Parents play a big role in encouraging and preparing children for extracurricular activities alongwith studies. Yesterday when you had slept, in a TV programme, they were telling that some famous sociologists have presented a report after studying the nature, behaviour and reactions of the children of age group of three to seven, according to which if a child gets active companionship, love and guidance from mother for at least thirty minutes every day, then his / her gradual development is all-round and better. Therefore, the overall development of the children whose parents put them in hostels at an early age gets stunted, as they suffer from lack of affection and love throughout their lives. With growing age, this weakness sometimes turns into antisocial behaviour. You know Manish. When his sons were in second or third class, he, following the example of others, got his children admitted in a hostel. When he went to meet them after a week or so, he asked them whether they were enjoying their studies, the elder one replied very innocently, ‘Papa, when we miss you and mummy, we hug each other and cry.’ And Manish brought them back the same day. Today, after studying in local school and college, both the children are successful in their respective professions.”
“I taught Anjani and Sanjana till seventh-eighth classes myself. I took care of their smallest needs. They never needed tuition. I’m thinking that it’s little Pari’s first Lohri, why not organise a small function on this occasion?”
“As far as I know, as per the tradition, the first Lohri of a baby-boy is celebrated and not that of a baby-girl.”
“I’ve read somewhere that tradition or belief is the stream of thought which is passed on from one generation to another in the form of experience. Tradition or generational ideological experience leads to the development and welfare of the society and country. As the time changes, the generations change and the circumstances change. Thus, a lot of traditions become redundant or meaningless with the passing times. The ideology that the life forward, towards development can be called tradition and the beliefs that become irrelevant with the changing times can be called orthodoxy. The benefit of a person and the society lies in following the tradition and abandoning the orthodoxy. Accepting a belief after understanding it, is modernity and following it blindly, is orthodoxy. We should abandon the conservative beliefs and move ahead with time. Nowadays girls are ahead of boys in every field of life, then why should n’t we celebrate their birthday?”
“You’re absolutely right. Take the case of our own daughters. They take so much care of us! I know many families where sons are not ready to provide their parents with even the bare minimum necessities, let alone take care of them. Parents are an unwanted burden for them. That’s why I agree with you. We’ll celebrate the first Lohri of our little Pari at home. Ask Anjani once again, if either of them, our son-in-law or she herself could come, it’ll be nice.”
Rani told Anjani about the function on phone and urged her to come, but she again expressed her inability saying that it was Aryan’s first competition, so, it was very important to be with him otherwise the child would feel neglected.
“Anjani is not coming. We’ll call the couples kitty members. We’ll have a get together for Lohri at home and it’ll be quiet lively.”
“Okay, let’s do this. I’ll call all the kitty members. You see how to conduct the function. Make a list of whatever you want to order, I’ll get the same.”
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