RENAISSANCE OF NARMAD NAGARI......
I have been blessed with a daughter who will turn 16 this October. Last fortnight has made her wiser but made me even more so. I belong to that generation of parents in Tapi town who educated themselves in parenthood to raise their children.

We know Dr. Spock’s guidelines like the back of our hands, we figured out and followed vaccination schedules smoothly, we pronounced phonics to help them to spell better, and we make sure we give the best possible exposure of music, books and art to our kids.

We also understood what Kahlil Gibran meant when he wrote,’ you may give your children your love but not your thoughts; for they have their own, you may house their bodies but not their souls, for, their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backwards nor tarries with yesterday. ‘

So, In the process of raising them we too learnt. Social networking means being net savvy, writing skills meant speedy sms, colour combination meant purple and yellow nailpolish, noodle and spaghetti meant clothes not food, food is something that comes in a box, delivered piping hot in 30 minutes. In short we learnt to,’chill the pep’ and we thought we were doing a pretty good job with parenting.
Then, this summer, Surat witnessed the heat of a different kind of dilemma.

Murder and gang rapes was something that happened in reel life during our growing up years, but our children have had to face this harsh reality in real life, right in their neighbourhoods! To make matters worse, these crimes were committed by the youth.

Surti parents who always knew what was right for their children were left totally clueless as to how to handle this situation. As panic replaced shock and our elders did what they do best, gave us a lesson or two in,’how much freedom is too much freedom’, ‘don’t clip their wings,give them the strength of more love’, we knew deep down in was time for introspection.

We grew up in this town where Ghoddod road meant bicycle racing, Rander meant’ Ponk and Hollywood movies,’ ’Varachha meant going to watch the circus,’Chowpatty meant garden and stationary’,’ various sheris meant’ Ganpati and Navratri’ and Dumas meant Beach and Picnic.
Our children on the other hand might know these very areas as places for underage driving, lover hotspots, bootlegging, pollution, black money, organised crimes etc.

These are issues that we Surtis have to deal with ourselves, if we seek a better future for our kids.

We belong to the city of veer kavi Narmad known as,’arvachino ma aadya’ [first amongst the modern].Known for modernity, romanticism, he was revolutionary in the field of social reforms for removing ills from the society.

Even as he painfully penned ‘aa te shu tuj haal Surat’,so also he wrote,’vaank nathi kai tuj,vaank toh disha tano re,asamani aafat tethi aa rol banyo re,Tapi dakshin tatey, Surat muj ghayal bhoomi,maney ghanu abhimaan ,bhoy mey taari chumi.’

Let’s turn our town as he called it-Surat sona ni murat.