Gardening or keeping a pet

There are a few things which Indian parents often forget to teach the children, and as a result they are either deprived from some great joys or suffer dearly. I have jotted down six of them, and have distributed them in four posts. Even though I don’t and wont have a child of my own, but thought about sharing it with parents:

Four. Gardening or keeping a pet:

Quite contrary to us, who were brought up in a family where only one of the spouses went out for job, most of the children today are brought up in a family where both of their parents are either stuck up in full time jobs, or one of them is stuck up in a full time job and the other is busy playing the role of both.

The children too are too busy in their own life, the journey to and fro the school, the tutions and other activities consume half of the life force and time. In such a hectic and mechanical world, a little garden or a pet can give a child lot of happiness. It will give him the joy of creation, and the sense of responsibility.

But one have to be clear about one thing, if a child keeps a pet he will be the one who will be taking care of him or her, ofcourse under the parent’s supervision. I remember when I was a child my father always used to have a huge garden and a pair of dogs. Those dogs naturally gave birth to puppies, and he used to allow my older siblings to adopt them and take care of them. They were just teenagers then, yet they did it quite expertly. By taking care meant feeding, giving water, brushing, vaccinating every thing. I still remember that both of the dogs which they brought up were quite cute and they even taught them some simple tricks of obedience. Even though its not possible for me to say whether my father supervised.

Apart from pets they each were handed over a piece of land in the garden and asked to plant whatever they wanted in it. My father and mother, both were wonderful gardeners themselves, atleast that’s what I think, never interfered in their small gardens. Only my eldermost brother was my father’s assistant. They used to work on the remaining garden when he was back home from dispensary, or when he was away to the dispensary. One thing should be kept in mind, if a child is going to have a garden he will be tending it, under the guidelines of parents of course.

As I have done both of the things in my childhood and since then, believe me, it helps to grow a lot. If you know that some living thing is dependent on you, your sense of responsibility increases. You just cant flunk this duty, you have to perform it. And when your hard work brings result, the immense happiness which follows can be felt by only those who have done it and received it.

These things bring out the finer side of human nature, love, care, responsibility, dedication and the sense of duty toward other living beings. Which works as a foundation for better life.