Lifeskills Through Games Making Tough Choices

In the previous episode of this serialised feature, we saw ways to make mathematics fun for children and also about appropriate ways to interact with people with a disability. In this episode, the value of choosing to do something difficult in preference to taking the easy way out is highlighted. The episode also describes an exercise which can nurture this value in children.

Dr. Jeyakar Vedamanickam, after a rich career in the Aeronautical industry had a stint as an academic – as the Director of the Xavier Business School in Bangalore. He has authored a book for parents, ‘Sculpting Angels: Parenting Lessons to Foster Creativity in Children’. He conducts workshops on ‘Creativity and Innovation’, ‘Behavioural Economics’ and ‘Risk Management’ for executives and on ‘Parenting for Creativity’ for parents.

Shama had just learnt a new meaning for the word ‘digit’, that it also means ‘finger’. Within minutes of learning, in her eagerness to use this newly learnt word, she had whispered to Joy, their apartment manager, ‘Uncle …Sunny has one digit missing.’

Uncle Joy was not pleased with what she had said. Uncle Joy had explained to Shama, that using Sunny’s unfortunate condition to promptly practice a new word was not a smart thing to do. He explained, ‘After all, Sunny is someone you play with and laugh with every day. He is your friend. I guess you wouldn’t have said what you said, in his presence.’ Shama deeply regretted what she had said, as Sunny was her close friend. All this had happened the previous day.

Shama, a sensitive girl, was still full of remorse the next evening. She was in no mood to go out and play with her friends. And Sunny, ‘How would she meet his eye?’ ‘How would she respond to his usual greeting of a ‘High-Five’ raising his left hand with the missing finger?’