At least mine does and I realize I don’t put in as many efforts as I should to strengthen the bond. Thankfully for me, he loves to be by himself in such matters.
I don’t remember the last time I sat down and prayed. I do pray sometimes, but not necessarily sitting in front of the little devghar in my house – a corner in the kitchen where all our Gods reside.
I am not an atheist, neither am I into rituals or religion. But I know I am a firm believer.
As for D, he loves sitting in his grandfather’s lap as he performs his customary morning pooja. He loves putting tikka on the Gods and ringing the bell. He even wants to hold the idols in his tiny palms. His grandfather anoints him with an orange tikka and he comes to me triumphantly displaying his acquisition with a ‘Mama tita’.
For some time at home, we had this evening ritual where we all came together and prayed. I used to stand and join my hands. D once smugly instructed me to sit down and bow my head.
It’s been a while that we have prayed together now. But D has his daily dose in the morning. His grandparents have taught him some shlokas which he recites to the T looking all the more adorable.
I don’t know what I am going to pass on to him when it comes to beliefs and traditions. I have conveniently left that to his grandparents. All I know is I want my child to have some faith. Faith, I have realized, brings with it a sense of calm, serenity, assurance, confidence, strength and power. In life’s worst moments, it can keep you composed and grounded.
So now I have started this small routine at night to close my eyes and say a little prayer with D. I have told him it’s our ‘thank you’ to God every night. The prayer is neutral, not referring to any God in particular. D can develop his own affinities whenever. He loves listening to the prayer and makes me repeat over and over again. At one point, I have to stop and tell him we will do it again tomorrow.
Last night, I quietly pried my eyes open and found my little one with his eyes tightly shut and his hands joined in prayer.
Long after we finished praying, he still kept saying ‘Thank You God’.
D spies me clicking a picture, grows conscious, forgets to join hands and only manages to close eyes.
5 comments:
:) nice theme. lovely lesson. how do you teach anyone to have faith though? if we could, i agree, it would be a wonderful thing to pass on. but come to think of it, kids have a lot of faith inherently. i reckon we just have to ensure they dont lose it...
True! Traditions, rituals, prayers can be taught. Faith certainly can't be. Like you rightly said, all you can hope is what they have stays intact. Yet, it's an effort :) Hope they just pick up on their own, at least in my case.
Loved this one!! You have initiated a very nice thing about thanking God for what we have. It is very important to know that we have a lot more than we don't have and appreciate it. If cultivate this feeling from the very beginning they will know the meaning of being content!! Thanks a lot!!
Tezz: So true. I hope we can manage to teach them to value what they have and thank God for that!
Very nice.... :) Liked your idea a lot and I'll also try to teach my little one the same because as it comes to the daily prayers (u know ;)) you and me don't differ.
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