The day my little baby was born….I was reborn as a mother. And for the first time I started understanding my mother. With every little cry I would fret, spend sleepless hours and pray for her well being. Today my little girl is stepping into adolescence and I now understand why my mother frowned if I made some bizzare choice…

From a mother’s perspective the world is never a safe place for her child! She is worried someone may hurt her child physically… hurt them emotionally…. break their heart…. scar them for lifetime with all the ugliness of the world….

Every mother if given a chance would love to make a new world where her child is safe and happy…I dreamt of a new world too(read my World Remade here).

Being a mother, however, I can not just sit back and dream for a better world and do nothing to give towards it. It is us the mothers of today who have the onus of teaching their children the true way of dealing with life…

I would love to teach a thousand things to my daughter for her safety, her well-being, her mental peace. But a simple question from my daughter, made me realize, how important it was to teach her about work ethics.

A few days back, I was busy designing an invitation card for visiting senior Air Force officer and his wife. By the end of day, I was exhausted with household chores and day long meetings. The quilled design for the card was still in the making  and the card was required for the next morning. My daughter, showed her concern and asked me why I was making such an elaborate design? She told me to finish off quickly and slightly untidily…. so that next time, I would not be given the task and I would be free to rest after daily chores at home!!

I was surprised at her suggestion because I have never left whatever I was doing halfway be it cooking, painting, writing etc. I did not understand from where she got the idea of cutting corners for small benefits!

I sat her down and asked her why she said so and her reply was simple…” Nobody pays so much attention so how does it matter if your work is not perfect? It is you who is getting tired while others are enjoying  the evening!”

I decided that to make world better, first I had to teach my daughter to be a better person. This is what I told her:

“Sweetheart, never think whether the work is small or big…finish whatever responsibility comes your way with full dedication…it might not bring fame or acknowledgement from all quarters but in the end your heart will be at peace knowing that you did justice to the work. 

Do not take shortcuts like bribing  anybody to facilitate your work…because that leaves you in a vulnerable place to be exploited later. Even if you do the right thing, you may not be appreciated but then nobody will be able to point fingers at you either.

Do not indulge in unnecessary flattery to wriggle out of difficult situation, just put your efforts in completing the work to best of your ability …your work  will speak for itself and your ethics and integrity will garner respect for you… and may be inspire some to be like you.

Do what is right and slowly the world around you will become right…A better place to be!!”

Yes, I do believe that for a better world, we all need to work with full dedication and not sham, not cut corners, not bribe, not be dishonest, not be disloyal….. An honest person will be an asset and encourage others to follow suit making the world a little better place.

This post is in response to #MomsForBetterWorldProject