Ok so if anybody ever tells you that planning saves time, punch them. they are lying. because there isnt a bigger deception, a bigger conspiracy hatched in the history of human civilisation than the propagation of the concept of planning. PLANNING! PAAAHHHH! It is supposed to save you time and make life simpler. like hell it does!!
kids are taught to brush their teeth twice a day, eat the greens, respect all grey haired beings,look at their shoes when they are talked to and generally pretend to be retards with no mind and opinion of their own, while those who have lived longer in this crazy ass world feign sanity.
what has this supposedly normal and hence decidedly good upbringing got to do with planning? well, for one, parents believe that if they plan a day for their child, they can plan their lives too. we told you to brush your teeth, it saved you from tooth decay, so you have to become an engineer 'beta we always know what is good for you'! we asked you to respect your elders and you turned out to be so in touch with your roots, so yes, you must leave the country, work in a far far away land to make money so we can be proud NRI parents 'beta we always know what is good for you'!
I am not suggesting that they dont , but they do not ALWAYS.
Which brings me to another interesting question. How DO parents know what is necessarily good for their children? Surely, couples are not bestowed with all knowing powers as soon as they bear childen. Knowing what works for your child and what does not, depends in the first place on how well you know your child. what his likes, dislikes are, and where his interests and capabilities lie. Moreover, these are confused with what parents want and imagine their child' s interests and capabilities to be. Every parent would love to believe that their child has what it takes to be successful in the conventional sense.
But as is evident, this is not always the case. I remember how passionate I was about theatre. I loved it and was pretty damn good on stage. My parents were encouraging so far as the trophies and certificates rolled in. But the moment I started giving theatre a serious thought as a profession, I was in for a year long lecture. I was told that it was a stupid idea, that I could do much better and that I would never succeed in life if I took up the stage. So, after hundreds of mindless arguments, tantrums and a few broken pieces of furniture, I gave in. Frankly, I dont kick myself for doing that now. I am happy being a journalist. Not too many regrets. But I often wonder how my life would have been had I fuelled my passion instead of following my parents' plans for my life.
