SHOULD WE MAKE OUR CHILDREN RICH AND POWERFUL OR CONTENTED AND PEACEFUL?

Most Indians try to bring up their children to become rich and powerful. According to a report  by a leading newspaper of India, the top rich of the country consisting about 1% as of 2018 have annual growth of wealth by 39% whereas the lower half of the population has an average growth of wealth by 3% per annum. This can be called as the consequential impact of our democracy. But if we have a practical approach of the matter, we can find from our own neighborhood that the youth of today who have become alcoholic and narcotic addicts, political thugs, antisocial criminals etc are the creation of their own parents and the educational system they have undergone. Can we find any effort from anywhere to reform a spoilt one. Our political system prefer a criminal one than an educated and intelligent one.

When we take a list of most intelligent and knowledgeable students in the world we may find the names Singapore, Hong Kong, Estonia, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Japan etc. Indian parents seem to have extremely happy to see their children doing political work in schools and colleges instead of studying and acquiring knowledge. In almost all colleges we can find political election and different party's flags. In order to improve our spoiled educational system we must close the gates of schools and colleges to prevent the entry of politics into their premises. This would be the first step towards rebuilding our educational system.

When Bill Gates and Melinda ended their marriage relationship after 27 years, when he was one of the top richest in the world. According to the report of Forbes, when we take the list of fifty richest in America now (each of these billionaires worth $13.2 billion) 35 of them ended in divorce. The most expensive ever divorce was between Jeff Bezos and Mackenzie Scott was settled in 2019 for $38.3 billion. As per a statistical analysis of of 2023 of USA, 33% of marriages ended up in divorce within 10 years from marriage. From the above we can conclude that money alone cannot bring success in family life.  An estimated 7,000 cars worth $5 billion is held by the Sultan of Brunei. If half the amount of these are given to any one of us, will it give utmost happiness to us or nuisance and overburden.

Both money and power are like this. We should have these for our needs, not more than that. We should try to create a clean and unadulterated mind in our children. Alongwith their growth let them be prepared to adopt those required for them. We should never try to inject harmful substance to their minds. And above all the children should be made contented within their reach. They should also be convincingly told about the significance of peace in human life. When our efforts get fulfilled to our expectation we get contented. When we share our contentment with our near and dear we get happiness. And when we share our happiness with all and sundry around we get peace. If our children learned to become peaceful they have learned everything in life. Wealth and power can be snatched away by anybody,. contentment and peace cannot be snatched by anyone without one's permission.

 

K V George