Growing up, I was convinced I’d write the next Great Indian Novel. Every teacher I’ve ever met told me that I would. Friends whom I narrated stories to suggested it. Even strangers who read things I wrote in passing chimed in! As a cocky teenager, I would sneer at popular novels, convinced I could best… Continue reading The Weight of Being ‘Good’
Category: Preschool Years
Gender in the Playroom
As parents, we can be aware of our own implicit biases and try to ensure our children grow up with a more open approach to the things around them. For that to happen though, we have to truly let go of our biases. Telling my daughter she can't have things which are pink or girly is as counterproductive as ONLY giving her those things in the first place. I believe as a parent, it's my job to expose G to everything possible - the girlish, the boyish, the neutral - and let her pick whatever she wants. Only then can she truly make an unbiased choice. Anyway, these labels 'boyish', 'for girls,' and so on, are human constructs. Toys, clothes, and colours are not designed gendered. It's our biases that make them so. All things are, in theory, for everyone.
On Raising an Easy Child
People often remark on what an amazing child Gulabo is. I respond saying she has always been chilled out, or easy. They ask if she sleeps 'through the night,' and I respond that she's doing really well; she sleeps all that she can be expected to. I'm asked if she throws tantrums, and I say:… Continue reading On Raising an Easy Child
Montessori Education: What Does It Even Mean?
We’ve all seen the tear jerkers like Taare Zameen Par, where children are hurt by India’s rigid educational system and their parents’ traditional approaches to learning. We’ve been moved to tears by every IIT/IIM alum on earth deciding they were pressured into going that route and deciding to write books instead (why God, whyyyy?). So… Continue reading Montessori Education: What Does It Even Mean?
And How Do You Do? 