How cool are my parents!!! Ok. I am back from my self imposed exile from social media. The reason for me to be back is multifold, but I wanted to express to my family and friends in the most efficient way about how much I appreciate my parents and my upbringing. The following is some of the valuable lessons I learnt after deep reflection over time. Throughout my life, I suffered from personal demons such as insecurity, fear, and anxiety about my circumstances in my life. I am happy to say this is history. The past state of mind, made me doubt everything about me - my identity, my indianness, my americanness, my family, my parents, my upbringing, my circumstances, etc. I was in the hunt for the elusive happiness from my worldly pursuits while not realizing all that time that happiness and sadness is nothing but a state of my mind. As I started to realize the wonderful life that God has bestowed on me, I will be remiss not to mention the two people who had the most positive influence on me in the entire world. My Appa and Amma. My parents have been there for me and loved me unconditionally all through my life. Through all my ups and downs. They have always encouraged to fulfill my full potential as a human being. How cool is it that I get to eat my moms dosas in the morning for breakfast (brought to my office by my dad) and then to go to their home and have lunch (dal rice fixed by my dad, and my favorite vegetarian dishes for the side), and a bag full of goodies for my dinner. I know it is a small thing for them but it is a huge difference for me when I can eat food prepared and served with love. The following are some of the great gifts that they gave me: 1. Ability to think freely and pursue dreams no matter what and where. As I experience the heartache of an empty nest myself, I realize the sacrifice my parents made in sending me joyfully to another country to pursue my dreams. This applied not just for me but for my siblings too. 2. The freedom to choose my own faith (I am a follower of Christ) and freedom to choose my bride. Coming from an orthodox Tamil Brahmin family, I never felt any opposition but on the contrary only encouragement and support. 3. Willingness to give and to give freely. My parents with their meager resources out give (percentage of their income) than any other folks I can think of. Multimillionaires will put to shame if they compare their generosity with my parents. Their motto is money comes and money goes but not character. They always believed God will provide for all our needs. This instilled in me the faith to believe in God. 4. Be hospitable and treat guests as treasured visitors. Even when we didnt have much to go around at times, there was always an extra helping for someone who would drop by dinner (remember there were times before folks had telephones, email and texting capabilities - so people just show up). My parents always sacrificed their bed to the guests and would rather sleep on the floor rather than put the guests in any inconvenience. How cool is that!!! 5. Love others and never hurt anyone. Jesuss commandment of Love your enemies has been never better demonstrated in my life other than my parents. As per my parents, there are no enemies - just humans with natural human flaws. 6. How to love sacrificially be it your immediate family, extended family, friends and neighbors. 7. Blind to race, caste, regional, and religious differences. Right from our childhood they have taught us to be respectful of people of any background. I have seen my parents go out of their way to help those in need irrespective of their stature, race, caste, creed, religion, etc. How cool is that!!! 8. Never to be proud but to be always thankful. Appa and Amma are the most unpretentious persons I have met. Finally, they taught me how to love unconditionally and what true love is - to put others needs above yours. I could go on and on, but I think I will save the rest for another time. I am thankful to God for providing me with such great human beings as my parents. I realize that my background and my present is what defines me and is still defining me as a human being. I realized the rich diversity that God has bestowed in my life - brought up in both North and South India, speaking Tamil and Hindi, educated in one of the best schools that country can offer, coming to US for higher studies in a good school, finding my own faith, marrying outside my culture, running my own company, sending my kids off through college, etc. I am proud to be all - Indian, Tamil Brahmin Iyer, dad, son, brother, uncle, cousin and of course also a follower of Christ. I dont have to choose one over the other but to embrace all the richness that comes from such as a vast diversity in life. For all that I am today, for all that is good about me (which might not be much at this time :)) has been solely due to the grace of God and through the love of my cherished Appa and Amma. Salute to you two for being the best you can be for all of us who had the fortune to have met you in our life. God Bless All. Jai Hind. Love Raj (alias Balaji for my dear Tamil family).
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 21:49:40 +0000
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