The topic of discussion at lunch table today was Nithilas sports day and how she performed… this extended to a larger topic of how involved parents are today in the whole schooling as well as extra-curricular activities of their children… how schools encourage that parents themselves participate in various programmes… be it running alongside the kids in the race or introducing their kid in fancy dress competition or take rehearsals for the annual day at home or have healthy debates and discussions in open house or simply accompany them to field trips… in our times (as far as I remember them), parents must have visited our school to take first-time admission… thereafter they never had to… concepts of parents-teachers meet, open house etc didn’t exist then… parents were called to school in exceptional cases where the child would have grossly misbehaved or scored very poorly… but then too such cases were largely handled by teachers themselves, who were given all the authority to scold and if required whack the mischievous and disobedient kids… this authority being given by parents themselves, was a 100% delegation of authority in true sense!!! All school events and picnics were only and only for the students and we enjoyed them thoroughly, not really missing parents much…

So, as my colleague mentioned in discussion today, the comparison between our schooling and todays schooling would be like comparing a 1940s black and white movie on one hand and todays animated Avatar on the other !!! but no complaints whatsoever… for I loved introducing Nithila on her fancy dress as the ‘sweetest chilli’… for it’s a sheer delight to hear her teachers saying good things about her in parents-teachers meet… for it gave great satisfaction when she for once finished her tiffin when I make ‘red’ pancakes for her (school asked parents to send red coloured snacks in tiffin!!!)… for I had all the fun cheering Nithila on her sports day (well, she taught me a day before as to how I am supposed to cheer her up by shouting ‘run Nithila run’!!!)… going forward, I know, its not going to be all that fun when I would also be expected to get her homework done and take revisions at home… still I am looking forward to it… looking forward to going to school all over, and learning a few new things over a new curriculum…

I can for sure say that I may not have missed my parents during school activities… but they surely did miss all the fun…