PW invited parents from Mumbai to share their thoughts on how they help their children develop the virtue of commitment
“We believe real-life exposure is crucial for my daughter Dia (11) to develop the values of commitment with dedication. During the summer, we enrolled her in a seven-day adventure camp in the Himalayas — her first time away from the family. There she spent a full week on her own learning new things and participating in activities, building new friendships, some with complete strangers. Currently Dia interns at Magstreet Kitchen for a five-day cooking course. She is also quite committed to her school project on entrepreneurship wherein she spends substantial time at our family-run bakery and is exposed to real-life business”
— Gauri Devidayal, restaurateur
“I genuinely believe in maintaining a well-planned routine — from meals, activities to study times — for my son Kiaan aged eight ensuring we follow it every week through fun activities in the house. For instance, if he does household chores or tries something new for the first time that is usually met with a ‘No’, we give him a small sum of money that he segregates into save, spend and share boxes. What he saves, he can use at a later date, and what he spends, he can use right away, and what he shares is given to a charity of his choice at the end of a few months. Since every facet of this is exciting and involves long-term commitment. It has been a huge learning”
— Shouger Doshi Merchant, entrepreuneur
“I routinely help my teenage daughter Sameeksha (15) and son Shriyans (12) to draw up a timetable for studies and hobbies. I have enrolled Shriyans in a table tennis class which allows him to maintain regular practice. He also has an allocated time every day after school hours to practice. Sameeksha is mature enough to understand her likes and dislikes; she only needs me to give her small reminders to finish certain activities. She had taken a break from kathak dance classes for her class X exams. But now, without even reminding her, she has restarted her classes and riyaaz”
— Natasha Vaidya, teacher in Universal High School, Thane
“While my six-year-old twin boys — Ryan and Ethan — may be too young to understand commitment, I believe it’s essential to instill this value at youngest age. So while we have flexible routines — based on their sports and extracurricular activities schedule — we involve them in activities to make them develop responsibility. Like the book library we joined this summer. Every 15 days, we spent hours exchanging books with the expectation that returned books are kept neatly (no dog ears) and read in time to maximise the membership facility”
— Rashmi Henriques, homemaker
