Like many young people, I was raised with two parallel world views. One that fostered an adventurous spirit and another that stressed responsible living. I thank my parents immensely for giving me both philosophies of life.
As a child, I grew up in the pristine mountains of India; in a small village of immense beauty - 7200 feet above sea level. My days were spent in school and in playing on the steep slopes around our home. Scraped knees and broken bones were the norm. Adventure was built into my blood. The flip side of this carefree childhood was that unbeknownst to me, my parents were inculcating within me the lessons of responsible living: generosity to others and equal and fair treatment of all around me regardless of race, skin color, income level or social status.
At the age of eighteen, with the blessings of my tearful parents who me bid farewell, I left India and came to the United States to attend college. Little did I realize that the adventure of a lifetime was about to begin - but it would have been a disaster without all the built in lessons in responsibility that I had been given by my parents since childhood.
A young girl, by herself, in Macon, Georgia, physically separated from her parents by 9000 miles and from her siblings by 1500 miles in the year 1985; when phone calls to India cost $3.50/minute, if and when one could get a connection on the phone. I became responsible for paying my tuition and dorm bills, operating a bank account, balancing a check book, holding a job to earn money to pay my bills, all the while maintaining a GPA that would make my parents proud of me. I learned to be self sufficient and responsible for myself.
Now, at the age of 53, I look back at those days fondly and try to inculcate in my son some of those valuable lessons I learned from my (now deceased) wonderful parents. I am forever indebted and grateful to my parents for the life lessons they taught me. Thank you Mummy and Daddy, with lots of love!