So it was when I was going through the same question with my daughter…

what do u aspire to be when u grow up?

to that there was a flash of memory.

This was in school in year 5 and it was the first Moral science lecture of the year. The teacher wanted to know all of her students. It was quite unique of her I think to ask every child to say out loud their name, what they aspire to be and what do they think are their strengths for it…

I was quite scared to answer them, to open up my confused head, although like every child I had counted the number of students before me and estimated roughly the time for my turn and I went through all of my likes dislikes strengths and weakness to be able to answer it..

I generally find it very difficult to lie, it surrounds me with guilt and depression later on. So making it up was out of question, or saying it just for the heck of it would mean not being myself.

it was my turn – there I stood up ” I am Masuma, well I guess I can become a beautician or a make up artist, as I can make other people look beautiful and I said I can understand other people really well that is my strength.”

So in middle of wannabe doctors, teachers, actors and engineers I was the one with a very simple answer.

This indeed helps me relate to my kids better whenever their answers are not conventional, as I realise it reflects deeper and honest thinking.