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100 Questions From My Child THIS curiosity of children is boundless and often the quirkiest, crooked questions are asked in ways most innocent. Frankly, the book didn’t appear very appealing in the beginning, but it turned out to be quite a pleasant read.
For instance, one day her little daughter returns from school sullen and wants to know why others found her boring and didn’t want to play with her—a question enough to send the heart of any mother pounding. Mallika broods over it for a while, figuring the best way to answer it without further hurting her daughter. "Sometimes when other people are feeling sad or angry, they say things to hurt those around them. You have to remember when they say things like ‘you are boring’, it’s really about them, not about you." A generous perspective. There’s another. "Am I the most beautiful girl in the world?" Here too Mallika’s response is gentle and candid, without any of the skewed impressions that may make children opinionated as adults—"Everyone is the most beautiful when they are who they are." When her little girl insists that she wants to be only the very best, she patiently adds: "No one has to be the best because each one of us has our own special beauty. We should try to be happy about other people’s beauty as well. When we are happy about that, then we become more beautiful." Mallika’s constant endeavour, as is most mothers’, is to see her girls grow up into beautiful humans with compassion and none of the pre-conceived notions that colour our thinking and make us susceptible to judging people all the time. Then there is a rather exasperating query, sure to be followed by a tantrum that won’t soon end—"Why can’t I have more candy?" Most mothers would either give in with all patience sapped out for another bout of copious tears or refuse to relent. There is no third way really. Kids will be kids and reason, of all things, doesn’t work with them. Mallika says it’s vital to set boundaries at some level. "I was failing both her and me. Being a mom was about teaching my children about limits and respect and how to deal with not always getting what you want. Being a mom was not just about lots of hugs and kisses, but also about saying no and waiting until the tears stop flowing." There are times when a mother is utterly helpless when her child is in pain and no amount of love can make it go away. "There are certain things that are truly beyond our control and we must reach a place of acceptance where we have to let our children experience what they are meant to experience." The book helps a parent introspect. With a lazy charm-making place for a mad race in life, we’ve forgotten how quite to answer questions and frankly, is there any time? But we must make the time, lest our children grow up into selfish individuals with least tolerance to others. And the book helps nudge you into doing just that.
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For
one, the questions are imaginative and Mallika Chopra’s (Deepak
Chopras’s daughter) answers to her daughters are well-thought out.
As a mother, she is acutely conscious of how her responses are
comprehended by her girls and how these could influence their
worldview later in life.