Of traditions and values!

My mother calls me today. 'Did you know it was "Gudi Padwa" yesterday?', 'Well, yes..I saw some updates on FB!" 'Then what did you do about it?' 'Well, err..nothing'. The lecture starts...'You are supposed to do this and this..How will you teach your son about traditions when you dont follow them yourself?'.
So unlike her passion for sports, where I've somewhat managed to redeem myself by my cricket-watching this season...I dont "meet expectations" on her scale of the religious barometer. On the contrary, I'm a disappointment.

Well, my take is...teaching kids traditions(esp. the religious ones) is like teaching them the tools..and not the art. Why do we have traditions? Traditions are to affirm values. And religion is just one of those values. To me, values such as truthfulness, honesty, discipline, hard work, ethics are equally important, if not more. Esp. when we are aspiring our kids to become the next generation Sachin and Sainas. We need to create traditions/rituals that inculcate these values.

Btw, I'm not against religious traditions nor am I preaching against it..Just one humble suggestion though: If you have a religious tradition/ritual that you follow in the house, good to also ensure that the kids understand why these are followed..There has to be a value associated with each of these. In fact, I found this interesting link Indian Traditions: Why do we on Indian traditions and the values it depicts.

As far as I'm concerned, the family tradition he's learning right now is yoga. Its spiritual to do yoga together as a family every other morning. Also, something that will make him healthier one day. For the rest of the traditions, I'll leave that to grandma.

And for all those who're wondering how my conversation with mom ended...Here goes: 'Guess what mom, I started tennis lessons yesterday.' 'Oh..thats nice. Keep it up.'

Allz well that endz well.