General musings

Aah! How it must feel to be young!
At a recent cultural program staged by Harvard "kids," I experienced an emotion that stayed with me for a while -- that of longing. I wondered-- how great it must be to feel that your greatest problem revolves around the attention of a young woman, your greatest fear that you might miss a note while performing on stage, and your greatest pride your grades.
Off stage, I saw the parents of the very college kids, beaming at the achievements of their progeny. It was a South Asian program, and it was indeed a culmination of their dreams-- that their children not lose their heritage, and receive a good education! As the lights went out, the law abiding citizens flouted rules and flashed their cameras to record those moments for posterity.
As the children poked fun at their accents and their insistence on Indian culture-- the parents didn't break the smile on their face. They clapped heartily, and genuinely enjoyed the program. I spoke to parents who had come in from all corners of the globe to see how their children perform: It was like a pilgrimage for them. In fact, the parents said they typically did not get to spend nearly as much time with their children as they'd like.
And I wondered: How must it feel to be a parent, giving your all for someone else, overlooking all their little faults and completely giving up your ego? Probably equidistant from both, I figured mine must be the phase of life where the feeling is least.
In a week, I saw a friend's child tell her pal that she wished she were her little sister-- all she does all day is suck her thumb and coo!