My little girl will start her school soon; and I can't even think of how to let her go alone to an unknown world - thinking to myself that my wife and I are her protectors!!!
I know it's not true, but I just can't comprehend this feeling of her stepping into the stream of real life!!
That was the premise of me wanting to jot down my thoughts. I want to tell her teachers to take care of her; I want to tell her 'friends' - Oh, this little one will hav her favourites - to take care of her; I want to tell the driver to take care of her; I want to tell the nanny in school to take care of her; I want to tell them not to push her; I want to tell them not to pull her; I want to tell them to love her... and I want to tell them to help her grow with the heart of Mother Theresa, with the patience of Mahatma Gandhi, with the perseverance of Martin Luther King, with the drive of Lans Amstrong, with the vision of Nelson Mandela.... all this I want to tell them.
And then I found this letter Abraham Lincoln wrote to his son's teacher; perhaps he too was going through such a turmoil. This is what I also want to tell my l'le one's teacher...
“My daughter starts school today. It is all going to be strange and new to her for a while and I wish you would treat her gently. It is an adventure that might take her across continents. All adventures that probably include wars, tragedy and sorrow.
To live this life will require faith, love and courage. So dear Teacher, will you please take her by her hand and teach her things she will have to know, teaching her - but gently, if you can.
Teach her that for every enemy, there is a friend. She will have to know that all men are not just, that all men are not true. But teach her also that for every scoundrel there is a hero, that for every crooked politician, there is a dedicated leader.
Teach her if you can that 10 cents earned is of far more value than a dollar found. In school, teacher, it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat. Teach her to learn how to gracefully lose, and enjoy winning when she does win.Teach her to be gentle with people, tough with tough people. Steer her away from envy if you can and teach her the secret of quiet laughter. Teach her if you can - how to laugh when she is sad, teach her there is no shame in tears.
Teach her there can be glory in failure and despair in success. Teach her to scoff at cynics.Teach her if you can the wonders of books, but also give time to ponder the extreme mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and flowers on a green hill. Teach her to have faith in her own ideas, even if every one tell her they are wrong.Try to give my daughter the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone else is doing it.
Teach her to listen to every one, but teach her also to filters all that she hears on a screen of truth and take only the good that comes through.Teach her to sell her talents and brains to the highest bidder but never to put a price tag on her heart and soul. Let her have the courage to be impatient, let her have the patient to be brave.
Teach her to have sublime faith in herself, because then she will always have sublime faith in mankind, in God.This is the order, teacher but see what best you can do. She is such a nice little girl and she is my daughter.
Posted on September 10, 2006
