I was one of those unlucky guys who lost my parents early in life. But on a positive note I realised the value of them ,since I lost them both early. There is always a debate as to whom children adore more – mother or father. Some may say either and some both , but I feel each of them have a different value to the children.

A mother is an epitome of love and affection for most kids. They provide unconditional love and nurture you till you are able to stand on your own feet. A father on the other hand , is the invisible force for most children. Their life gets strengthened by the presence of their father. One may not realise but a father’s mere presence , is like a guide being around you , all the time.

Each of us have a different take on our parents. For me, my mother was a symbol of grit and determination. She fought against all odds to do whatever she could ,for all of us and the family. On the other hand my father was a source of inspiration and an embodiment of patience. I learnt the true value of silence from him. His silence spoke more than his words for me. He was my role model and will always be.

Each one of us have to lose our mother and father ,at some stage of our lives ,unless we are lucky to leave Mother Earth before them. All of us are not privileged enough to take care of our parents when we are independent and they need our support. However, many of us miss them and realise their value much more , when they are not around.

I lost my mother at the age of 23. I was closer to my father than my mother. But I did realise the value of my mother , when she was no more, as I realised later how much she had sacrificed her life for the welfare of others. Her grit and determination to fight all odds were indeed worth emulating. She was a disciplinarian and made us realise the basic values of life through her actions more than her words.

I lost my father two years later at the age of 25. It was a life shattering event for me , in my life. This was the stage of my life when I had just got married and was settling in my career. Losing both my parents at this stage of my life , shook me off the ground. I had always dreamt of taking care of my parents when I settled down in life. I requested my father to come and stay with me after my mother’s death. However, he politely declined since he said my brother was in college and he had to take care of him.

I could not take care of my parents after I settled down in life. But I did realise that I have to be grateful to them ,throughout my life, for what I am today. Although, we hailed from a middle class family , they inculcated the basic values in life and taught us the ethical way of living, through their actions.

Although I do realise that I can never repay my debts to my parents for moulding me into what I am in today, I do realise that I can still respect them by living their values in life. I learnt to “never give up” on anything from my mother and learnt “patience unlimited” and the value of “silence” from my father.

Each of us may identify one or two value from our parents and try to live them ,so that , our future generations can do the same. This may be the best way to express our gratitude to our parents.

Long live our parents.

S Ramesh Shankar

14th January 2022

I was bored with my routine life at home with all my daily rituals of walk, yoga, coaching, writing and household chores. So I decided to take a break , as the hills beckoned me.

I had a beautiful drive through the plains, hills and valleys and reached my destination which was about 500 kms in 8 hours. As I settled down in my room and opened the curtains to take a view of the picturesque valley ,I realised that every side presented a new view of nature.

This made me realise that every day is a new beginning in life. If we are willing to bury our past and not worry about our future, the present day can be beautiful. We can discover every day as a new beginning in life.

While it may be easy for me to write, it may be very difficult to practise. But I think, it is worth a try. Every day when I get up in the morning the colour of the sky is different and the rays of the sun ,reach us through the clouds differently.

Life is no different. This is more useful ,when we are in a crisis. We get bogged down by what has happened to us, over a period of time. We lose faith in ourselves and in others and start thinking that tomorrow is not going to be different from today.

This may not be true if we learn from nature. Every hill has a different shade of green or blue. Every tree has different coloured leaves and even the sky gives us a multitude of colours to admire. We sometimes cannot believe the designs of nature all around us.

I realise today ,that it is a good idea to take a break and come to the hills or visit the beaches or forests to rekindle our connect with nature. Nature has endless lessons to teach us every day. I realise that I have learnt so many lessons and yet discover a new one every time I get close to nature.

Today I believe that every day can indeed be a new beginning. It may be difficult to bury the past but worth a try. It may be a challenge not to worry about the future but worth attempting. Live in today and believe that today is the best day of your life.

Even when we are going through a good path, it may be worthwhile to believe that tomorrow is going to be different and we need to ready for it. It may be better than today or may not be. But there is always a tomorrow after today.

Every day gives us hope. Every day can be a new beginning of another chapter in our life. We can erase the bad memories of the past and have an opportunity to create a new life for the future. A storm or a tsunami does not end life in nature. It is just the beginning of a new life all over again.

We can delete the bad memories of the past and create a future of our choice. Let us believe that every day is going to be a new beginning of our life all over again.

Let us make a new beginning today

S Ramesh Shankar

8th Jan 2022

In life, sometimes the obvious is not so obvious. I have worn my glasses and kept searching for it. Such or similar incidents may have happened to many of us. While others who see us think it is so obvious, it is not that obvious to us.

Life is no different. The other day my daughter went for a dinner with her family. Her father in law’s glasses fell off his pocket. When my daughter saw a pair of spectacles lying on the floor, she picked it up and handed it over to the hotel reception thinking someone may have dropped it by accident. When they returned home, her father in law reported that he misplaced his spectacles. When she told him about this incident, he asked as to why she did not check with him before handing it over to the reception. It did not strike her that it could belong to her own family members.

In life, there are many things which are obvious to others but may not appear that obvious to us. I am fond of driving cars and love to drive at high speeds when the highways are clear. Sometimes when I have to apply the brakes at high speeds at road junctions I used to get irritated as to why people cannot see a speeding car. On the other hand, they also seem equally irritated as to why, me as a car driver, was driving at high speeds at road crossings. Isn’t it obvious that people may be crossing at such points?

When we reflect on such incidents, we realise that the world is viewed by each of us from different lenses. What we need to realise that neither we are wrong nor are they. It is only looking at life from different perspectives.

The issue is not about looking at life differently. But, the issue is when we form opinions of others, based on our own perceptions without cross checking with them. If we find a child sulking on a festive occasion at home, we may find it amusing. But if you check with the child, it may be because of an injury which she had incurred, during play the previous evening.

The lessons I have learnt from such incidents is that life is different for each of us and our realities are different. We see what we want to see while others see what they want to see. We need to learn to respect each other’s view and respect the different views.

We tend to look at others’ world from our own eyes and then feel disappointed that they are not able to see it the way we see it. The day we realise that each of us have a right to a different world view, we may feel better.

Let us learn to respect each other’s views and learn to live with the differences.

S Ramesh Shankar

15th Oct 2021