Four Clover Life- By Namrata Shailendra Singh

  As an Indian American mom, I struggle to teach my daughter the right values, and my parenting has sometimes been questioned. But motherhood in America changed it all…so much so that I am surprised at the cosmic shift that can happen in life when a baby pops out of the womb. As if all the alcohol inside the body dried up, the hormones vaporized in thin air, and all the morality, values, and traditions of India have one door to knock on – MINE. Thanks to the population of the Indian community here, I have fodder for my eyes and ears, to reinforce how we must preserve the Indian-ness in us, in our children; otherwise ‘times are bad’ and ‘anything can happen, you see’. Phew! To read the article, click on The Indian American Mom Image courtesy-Pixabay

..because I was tired of lying to my 4-year-old son. Lying every day. Lying whenever he asked me the question . I felt like a cheat and the biggest hypocrite. I feel like a living example of an OXYMORON- A meat-eating sensitive person. LOOKING BACK. I am 35 now, and it's not the first time it has struck me. But I ate, ate heartily, applauding praises to the chef or to mum, whoever cooked those tender, spicy, delicious sumptuous chicken delicacies or mutton varieties. I was a slave to my palate and traded guilt for taste and hit it under the cover of ‘everybody else is doing it. I alone can't do anything about it.’ Point taken. Traded. Done. Leg piece of chicken goes down the throat with delight. Yummy!!! Somewhere around 9 years of age, the first time I actually went to the chicken shop with my father and saw the entire episode. I was aghast. I was pained. I came back home shocked. Two hours later, I had traded ….my palette a slave …I pretended to repress what I had se

Can I change or redefine parenting to create a meaningful upbringing ?  Or is it just a matter of chance? Do parents play a role in shaping the habits, attitudes, and personality of a child? Or is it no big deal ? But why meaningful? Because parenting cannot guarantee happiness to the child  every time . It can assure is 'meaning' so that the child feels worthwhile and  purposeful, both  falling and flying high. I worked for Xerox India Ltd back in 2006-2010 in various roles. From corporate HR to Regional HR Manager N & E and later S & W. It was during this time that I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Princy Bhatnagar, the Sales Head for Xerox India. It was one of those regular days at work where I heard him talking to his colleagues about family and children, and he said: Parenting is the most challenging yet most gratifying experience of one's life. I left Xerox India in 2011 and went ahead, traversing my own life. I wasn't a parent then, but his words st