This is a question I get asked invariably by friends and family whom we visit, and in all honesty, I don’t know the answer to it. That’s because I have a 6-year-old whose taste and choices in food change faster than the rate at which she is growing. I am almost always baffled when it comes to deciding what I should be offering her as snacks to satisfy her frequent hunger pangs.
Every hour or so, I hear a request, “Mummy bhook lagi hai, kuch achcha khana hai”. This ‘achcha’ is where we end up in conflict because I obviously value nutrition while the little one only cares about taste.
“You can’t have junk so often”, I often find myself muttering under my breath. “Junk is tasty, Mom”, she retorts while I roll my eyes in disapproval.
The pandemic has impacted the entire humankind at various levels and to different degrees. I believe children and young adults have taken the hit in more ways than we have been able to acknowledge. Being a parent, aunt and a mentor to numerous kids and teens, there is indubitably a nagging concern in my head regarding their future. I was recently having a conversation with one of my students and she mentioned how she was perturbed because her plan to travel abroad to pursue higher education was hindered by the current situation. This is the story of many students who are gripped with the worry for learning opportunities, visa processing and job prospects.
