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The Knot

I was in my eight grade and as part of my school project work had to knit a pair of booties. I was busy needling the pink hued yarn when by mistake I happened to stumble into a knot. Try as I would I was unable to untie the knot. After struggling for five minutes I gave up. My grandmother was seated across the room reading a book. She was amused to see me struggling with the knot but refused to acknowledge the issue in hand and displayed indifference towards it.


I was frustrated and walked to my grandmother for help. Looking at my plight she asked me “My child if you lose heart with a small knot like this one how would you untie the knots of life? This is a very small issue as you grow you would face bigger huddles, how would you tackle them? You try to do it yourself as tomorrow you need to face the bigger knots of life”.

Through these two statements my grandmother had taught me the first three lessons of life – RESPONSIBILITY, INDEPENDENCE, PERSEVERANCE.
She highlighted the need for ownership/ responsibility by saying it’s my problem I need to resolve it. The fact that I shouldn’t lose heart over petty things till the end result is achieved showed perseverance. A never say die attitude. She also gave me the freedom/ independence to explore, falter and reach my goal.

“The greatest gifts you can give your child are the roots of responsibility and wings of independence.”

She would always insist in LOVING and sharing whatever little we had.

“Happiness doesn’t result from what we get but from what we give.” 

She had instilled these moral values for a better tomorrow and her words still ring in my ears.

Her teachings have laid the foundation in our life. She would state ” Only if there is a wall, a picture can be drawn” which means if you need to do anything you need to be in good health. Health and good education would give you the strength to survive in this world. She would insist on my father to INVEST for a secure tomorrow.  Savings would help us take higher studies which in turn would lead to a sunny future.

I would always want to pass on these gifts which I have received from my grandmother to my children. These five spheres in totality would help brighten a child’s future.





This post is a part of the 1001 Gifts Activity by HDFC Life in association with BlogAdda

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