There are many lessons I have learnt and am still learning from members of my family who I live amongst.
My constant irritation with my ageing mother, who I have become impatient to listen to, teaches me the need to be patient, empathetic to an elder who is slightly infirm and the possibility of not reacting even when taunted.
My children teach me the need to appreciate their requirement for space in our relationship, and instil in me the choice I can make to hold back and not push them too hard.
My spouse teaches me the need to be accepting without question and the need to foster mutuality.
My close relatives, those who visit from time to time, teach me the need to be welcoming and including.
Those who come to sell their wares teach me the need to be civil, and understand their predicament when they have to make house visits, mostly cold ones, to eke out a living.
The house help teaches me the need to be independent, particularly when I travel abroad and have to do all the fetching and carrying on my own.
Thus, there are so many lessons to imbibe in a home where we are shorn off all trappings of nicety, diplomacy and correctness.
The writer is an organisational and behavioural consultant. He can be contacted at ttsrinath@gmail.com
