I was at the airport the other day waiting for a delayed flight. I love the airport, it allows me to observe the human microcosm without having to appear intrusive.
I was seeing quite a few adult children with their older parents. Not a single of this series, seemed in sync. Let me explain.
One of my favourite observations is that generational conflict is a consequence of a retarding (or accelerating) society. You would not see a large generational conflict in 3 generations of farmers from Kolhapur, but you would see a 40 year old make no connect with his 10 year kid in Bombay….(and of course as time progresses) the disconnect continues to accelerate.
I have told myself that if and when I have a kid, I shall fight this syndrome to the point I can. Me at 50 and the kid at 20 is a far better point for the conflict to arise than at 40 for me and 10 for the kid.
To do that, I am going do a few things:
1. Try to retain a semblance of my fitness. If I cannot drive around the country with my daughter…then I might as well give up.
2. Demonstrate to my daughter that daddy (and mommy too…since we were conjoined) always did what was right for his life first, then the family. (This is counter-intuitive, especially in terms of popular theory of “sacrifice”….but I strongly believe that if we “sacrifice” what we put at the altar is “everyone’s” happiness though we like to always believe otherwise…..Also sacrifice has its roots in inertia…mostly so…and thats something I want to tell chubby…that I never respected inertia…and hence managed to beat the generational conflict).
3. Keep pace with his/her interest in movies, games and music….and possibly form enough commonality so that we can always have a few “special” things to discuss about.
4. Dress well – I find people stuck in a fashion era as antiques. I will hopefully never do that…kid or otherwise 
(To be accepted into a fold you first have to look like them…and then the behavioural bits can follow….)
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1 comment:
Agree - AGAIN !!I love my children and have enjoyed reinventing myself through each "age" they have passed through. I dont know if they love me more for it but I like and respect myself more for it
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