HIMANSHU GURU, OP
In the earlier days, families were big. Now, parents want only one or two kids so that they can bring them up well. Mothers these days want well-furnished spacious rooms for their school-going children, equipped with all necessary facilities as per their wish. They feel that this would allow the children to learn to do things on their own and have a positive impact on them. Orissa POST asked some mothers about their plans for their child’s room.
Pushpita Mohanty, owner of a beauty parlour in Bhubaneswar, has not only provided a separate room for her daughter, but she has decorated it too keeping her daughter’s likes in mind. She says, “I planned a separate room for my daughter when she was merely eight. She was in Class II then. I observed that she had her own creative ideas. Once, she wanted me to change the colour of our house. On another occasion, she wanted me to change the curtains. Although we did not feel the need for it, my husband and I made the changes to make her happy. However, the next day I decided to provide her a separate room so that there she can learn to do things on her own. We made a new room for her and she was overwhelmed. She wanted her room to be painted pink and we did accordingly. She decorated her room with clay models of butterflies, elephants, and horses. It was a nice experience for the whole family.”
Arati Mishra from Jeypore is mother of a Class IX student, who is well known for her expertise in dance. Arati has provided her a room where she can study without disturbance and also practice dance. “My daughter excels both in studies and dance,” says Arati. “She is learning Odissi from a teacher in Jeypore. Seeing her love for dance, I allow her to attend dance programmes in the town. Gradually, I realized that she needs a room of her own to practice dance. She had to play music and dance and that was disturbing others in the family. There was a room in our house which was used as a store. One Sunday, I cleaned out the room and shifted her study table there. I asked her to occupy the room and practice dance as and when required. She has placed a big Nataraj idol in the room and put up photos of Odissi dancers on the wall. We also bought a sound system for her. Now she is very happy and is doing well both in studies and dance.”
Puspanjali Mishra from Bolangir says that her son Abhishek is a quiet boy. “When he was in Class VI, he started sitting at the desktop computer in our house for long hours. Initially, he was playing games, but soon he got bored and started exploring new things. My nephew is a video game designer and knowledgeable about the latest computer technologies. Abhishek learned many things from him and wanted to experiment on his own. However, the computer was in our living room where the whole family gathers to watch television. So, I decided to provide him a separate room where he can sit undisturbed to explore his interest.”
