It was parent’s teacher’s meeting. A teacher was giving test copies of students to their parents. I could see the pages had cursive writing written in them. I was wondering how come Nursery students are being taught Cursive writing. Has the syllabus been changed? Has the competition increased to such a high level? My baby who is yet to learn to speak all words correctly how will she cope up with all these? Have I taken wrong decision?
I kept aside my pile of thoughts and asked the teacher, “Please give me the copy which has nothing written in it”. That belongs to my daughter Adya. Teacher said, “How come, you are so sure about it? I proudly said I am her mother. After few minutes, teacher came up with a copy in which something was scribbled randomly like small babies. He said, here it is. Are you a lawyer? I said No I am her mother. Nobody can know a child more than her mother. A baby who is learning to speak new words, she just tried to scribble something. That was enough for me.
I hurried towards my child’s class. I could see all the students had assembled in a line to move towards auditorium. Preparation was going on for a Cultural Event at school. I was looking at each student’s face in search of Adya. But couldn’t find her. All babies seem similar to me in school uniform. But I remember I had put a cute white 2 flowers hairband on her head today.
I reached the auditorium. I heard the mic announcement. Nursery class girls come on stage for their dance performance. I was very eager. Now I will see my talented daughter. But again, similar faces confused me. A girl standing by me was playing with a cute white 2 flowers hairband. I asked, Is it yours?
She said No. It belongs to my friend. Teacher asked her to remove this fancy thing from her head. So, she gave this to me. I said OK.
I was trying to recognize Adya from the girls performing on stage. Two girls came to me and said Aunty are you Adya’s mother? I said Yes. Have you seen her? They said No. Even we are searching for her. Where is She? We want to gift her candies. My heartbeat raised. I could hear my nerves even in loud music. I was terrified and tensed. I was trying all means to keep myself calm. I was cursing myself for taking such a wrong decision. How could I force my baby to go to school when its time for her to play? Am I a bad mother? While my mind was doing its duty very promptly, my eyes were constantly looking for her. I asked almost everyone present there, have you seen my child? Her name is Adya. She is tall and thin. She worn a cute white 2 flowers hairband today. Some said yes, she went towards corridor. Some said No. Some said this. Some said that. Thoughts came has she got locked in toilet by mistake. Thoughts even came was she kidnapped and what not?
Suddenly I heard a soft voice calling MAMA. Oh, my lord. Its my baby Adya. She was sleeping just next to me.
That day I realized; we should not force our babies to school early. The urge to send your kids to preschool is understandable, but it is better to wait for the right time for the sake of your little one’s mental health. Yeah, there is competition. But we should not forget competition is same for everyone. No need to worry or hurry. We should give everything their time to grow and flourish. Just like chanas are soaked overnight to prepare a tasty chola early in the morning as breakfast.
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