The vicious circle of bad parenting had turned round. To this day we all still feel guilty that we had failed her.

However good a parent we may be, we have to be ready for surprises!

Before becoming a parent my ideas and feelings towards children were very glamorous; but when I became a parent the whole concept of parenting took on a new meaning and new understanding for me.

I once heard someone say – “Be careful how you live, you may be the only Scripture some people read.” I can’t tell you how true it is for young impressionable minds. I am told Amal (not yet six) goes to the factory, picks up the products we make and comments on the quality. No points for guessing where he learnt that !!

I spent a year in America in 1962 working for the Ohio Steel Foundry Company. I had the good fortune of working under a boss who was not only a world class metallurgist but also a very fine human being.

Parenting, according to me, is ‘the art of raising happy and healthy children by parents who are themselves happy and healthy’.