Round Table Conferences

When we're outside,

At the play ground and at school.

Do you ever wonder what they speak during their leisure round table conferences?

Do you wonder if they have their own club of gossip about which son or daughter will be more successful, or more famous than the rest?

The round table, of all the judgmental aunties and all the Sharma Jis.

Do they ever gossip behind our backs, like the beauty queens at school?

You're probably right,

Who knows.

The endless comparison charts on which child gets the highest percentage.

The calculated hours of the child's time in front of the book.

All the badams for extra concentration and the milk at night for good luck.

Because this, and only this, is considered,

The true measure of a good parent.

The higher the percentage, the better the parenting skills.

We think so little of them, as they judge us based on a piece of paper.

But what if I told you,

They weren't always like this.

They too went through the exact same thing.

At the time,

They were brainwashed,

Scrubbed, squeezed and slapped,

Just like the wash cloth at every house,

Against the big grey rock at the backyard.

They were trained to think that all we work for is a place in society

Based on a number we worked for.

They were told all of this was the way to go,

And that is why,

We are told the same.

Will this chain reaction ever stop?

Does it have to be forced upon every generation of curious minds?

Maybe, if we use that same mindset that got the 94.63% to make a change,

It's possible.

It's possible to stop the vicious cycle,

Of marks, report cards, and comparison to the smarter child in the class.

When we see the pain in us,

And the pain in the ones before us,

We can only make sure,

That the pain doesn't exist in the ones after us.