Abbu and "Progress Report"

Let me take you to the times of my schooling days -

In those days, I hated the idea of school, hated home-work (never did it properly after class 2) and hated the projects. What I hated most was the day when i had to get my "Progress Report" signed by my parents. The rules at Kendriya Vidyalaya dictated that such days came not once or twice...but thrice in a year.

Three times a year was too frequent for me to tolerate "school sponsored terrorism" ( phrase borrowed from Calvin and Hobbes strip). I countered by developing my own escape routine - hide the report-card till the very last day and then pop it in front of my mom seconds before the school bus was to leave. Mom usually had very little time to react, just enough time to skim through the numbers before signing off my "progress report".

After each such stunt, my mom used to warn me "agli baar Abbu sey sign karwana padega" (next time you would have to get it signed by your dad) . "Abbu" was used as a larger than life scare.

I usually managed to appeal to Amma's maternal instincts and avoid getting signature from Abbu. Eventually, i did once show my "Progress Report" to Abbu.... and, contrary to all my fears, he was supportive to the extent of being happy with my science and maths "Progress".

Thus, I realized that Abbu followed the policy of giving me space, allowing me to take my own decisions. He had his words of advice - "try to do everything with perfection" (Even if you want to be a thief, be the perfect thief - one who sneaks in unnoticed, does his job with minimal fuss, leaves no trace and then never gets caught), "try to stay within the top few students in your calss". He also had a big heart- when i was not that perfect in most things , when i did not finish in the top five(class 1 to class 10), he never held it against me.

This way, I was never under the maddening parental pressure that was making most of my friends crack (especially in class 10 and 12 days)

I love Abbu for that.

Years have passed since but dad has not changed much....occasionally he asks for my report ("..where are reports of those blood sugar and Lipid profile tests ...") and still has advice ("... see.. we have a genetic disposition to Diabetes, you got to exercise daily...")

Today, I myself am "Abbu" to my little boy- Shums. It is a big responsibility and it make me wonder..wonder whether i will be able to strike the right balance ....to give Shums enough space and yet ensure that he is out of harms way.

I don't have much experience on this job ..maybe its not not that difficult... maybe nature shows you the way.......maybe you can ask your Abbu for tips......

Will i do a good job? .....who knows......only time and Shums (when he is a Abbu himself) can tell.