Legacy: Letters from eminent parents to their daughters, Menon, Sudha [books to read to increase intelligence TXT] 📗

and come to regret it later on. As parents we had resolved to do at least a couple of shared vacations every year, when we get to hang out together, just having fun and sharing the stuff that is going on in our lives. I’m hoping that when your children come along, you will do the same with them.

As a young girl there were times when I would resent all the stuff that my Nanima would make me do. She insisted I do everything—learn piano, Indian dancing, cooking classes, horse riding, sewing… I occasionally resented it but in retrospect, all those things shaped the person I am today. I benefitted from each of the things that I learnt as a child. I tried to do that for you kids too, piano, tabla, dancing, riding class, and indulged your fancy for ballet. So there it is, my Anjoss, Artuss and Aduben, I could not do as much as my own mother could do for me because I was a working mother but I made sure that you are never going to regret that you did not get an opportunity to learn something that would have enriched your lives.

Every moment that we spend with you is such a precious gift. We soak up the affection that you give us so generously. All the BBM’s we get from you and all the phone calls Aarti makes from New York are wonderfully precious. I have saved many. Even some angry ones! Sometimes, when I worry that I don’t spend enough time with my children, I am blessed by the fact Pa can’t have enough of each of you everyday. He has been the rock for all four of us with his continued presence in our everyday lives. And someday I hope that when you become mothers, you will remember to do all the things that your grandmother and your mother did for their children. Give them the gift of your time when they need it. More than I could do.

In a chaotic, often unpredictable world, it gives me joy to know that you are incredibly positive, forward-looking, loving, and kind children. These are gifts that will always help you.

In the end, I want to tell you about a very special secret to a happy life: My grandmother and my mother gave me as their legacy an intense sense of internal pride. I want to add to that and tell you to cultivate the consistent ability to look upon someone as a mentor or role model, a person who you will not just learn from but also derive comfort and faith that will stand by you during tough times.

My grandmother was a feisty, tough woman, full of beans and boy oh boy, she was a deliverer! She travelled all over the world, had five kids, lived her life with unstoppable enthusiasm and energy, and had complete conviction that her faith would see her and family through life. She was my hero and she left a lasting impression on my life. That is what I want you all to remember. Leave a lasting impression on your family.

I love you all completely,

Mom

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

his book would never have been written without the unstinting support of my loving family and friends.

You stood by me resolutely in what has been a watershed year in my life, providing me a non-judgemental space for my endless griping about life in general, your shoulders to cry on, great amounts of ginger tea to pick me up, not to forget the love, laughter, and huge amounts of encouragement for everything that I have dared to undertake. I owe you all, big time.

This book wouldn’t be what it is without the generosity of all the people who have written letters in it to their precious children. They set aside their invaluable time to share the highs and lows of their lives with me. I am grateful for their time and patience and thank them for allowing me a peek into their lives when they were in the early stages of becoming today’s trendsetting leaders. Sharing their lives, even if it was for a little while, changed me in many sorts of ways.

This book would not be if it were not for Milee Ashwarya who picked up my precious baby and nurtured it as if it were her own. Milee shared my excitement, motivated me with her continuous admiration for my work, and egged me to push myself beyond what I thought I was capable of. Thank you, Gurveen Chadha, for editing my book, much like a fond mother who will only send her child to the party after making sure she is well-groomed and dressed up.

This book would never be complete without the loving presence of my precious daughter, Nayantara. Each day that I live, I strive to do the best I can in everything that I do so that she will learn by example from her mother.

I would also like thank the scores of other people who helped me in putting this together—enthusiastic and diligent assistants, to the men and women who have written in this book, and my own staff, who treated this as their project and made the road smooth and hassle-free for me.