A letter to Arpana about School

Dear Sweetheart,

I found yet another reason to admire you, just like how I admire you 1000 times a day. You look so smart in your school uniform. I have been away from you many times before, but this time, it seems very different. It’s hard to be away, out of MY control zone, where checking on what you are doing is not just a phone call away. I’ll miss you baby. 

You wouldn’t understand one word of what I am saying to you, but one day when you read this. I hope you do. 

We searched a lot, talked a lot, and prayed to find a good school for you. Finally, we found something (maybe not the best) but something we hope would be good start for you. Just like you, we are clueless sweetheart, we are just taking one small step of faith, trusting God will show us the way ahead. 

We did think a lot about academics, and other blahs associated with school education. However, deep inside we know, school gives you more than an academic curriculum. 

There will be nights when I am asking you to close your book and go to bed, and there will be days, when I am scolding you for not waking up early to revise your lessons. You will find moments when I embarrass you by announcing your flying colours to my friends, and there will also be days, when I will have a worried discussion that you are not scoring enough.

You will find friends, great friends, bad friends, and backstabbers. You will learn to give up, give in and stay strong. You will find a teacher who will change your life, and a teacher who will make you run for your life. You will find opportunities that bring the best out of you, and others that show the world how awful you can be. 

As articulate as you alread are, I can imagine the endless arguments we would have about so many issues. I can foresee doors banged on me, tear-filled eyes screaming, ‘I hate you!’. However, I can also see nights, when you are sleeping right next to me, I’m stroking your head, you are hugging me tight, and crying your heart, relieving yourself from fear, pain or rejection. 

You will learn to question your faith; and you will learn to doubt. You will also learn to believe in miracles, find answers about life. You will learn the art of persuasion and the art of deception, and in the end you will also figure out that truth prevails. 

One day you will find the one thing of the many things that will make your eyes sparkle, your heart race and your energy soar. You will find the things that you excel.  However, you will find it hard to make others (including us) believe in you. That’s one of the times, you will learn to talk to God in a more meaningful way. 

I will push you to work hard, score high, and challenge yourself. I may sometimes compare you with a friend. But remember sweety, I will always celebrate you. I will applaud at your achievements, and I may cry with you, when you fail, but no matter what you do or don’t, I won’t judge you. Your value is not assessed by your progress card, or your percentage. You are not a horse that I’m gambling my investments and waiting for returns. You are here to live your life, and God’s dreams, not mine or the world’s demands. 

You are a precious life, conceived in God’s mind, before you could find place in my womb. I want to see you as a confident woman, who loves the Lord, can see the world through His eyes, and can do the best at whatever you are called to do. I hope that your life and its message will be an influence on those around you. This is the big picture and I sincerely pray that you don’t lose sight of it in all this academic drama. 

The education system is a joke, but you need to survive it, and use it to fulfill your agenda. Not the other way round. Sometimes, academics helps, but the most important thing is the lessons you learn out of the journey called school-life. So that, you are prepared to face life- which is the greatest exam of all.  May you fare well in that!

Love,

Amma