Dear Penguin,
You’ve always had a tender heart and a stubborn will. A gorgeous, yet complicated combination to raise.
When you were small, “grit” was an exercise in continuously tying your shoelaces for 20 minutes without asking for assistance. Now, it is a hundred things, some brash and bold, some soft and persistent.
I recall how your voice shook when reciting poems, and how memorizing lines for a competition seemed like scaling Everest. You were once rejected, not picked, “because you forgot lines.”
You felt dwarfed. I felt helpless.
Then, came Hanuman. That school play did something to you.
The applause when you acted with complete bravado, tail and all, lingered with you … and with me.
That was grit. And drama. You’ve got both.
Next was the phase of “Don’t call me that in front of my friends.”
All of a sudden, the nickname I’d whispered since toddlerhood was forbidden. Or the time you rolled your eyes and whispered, “Please don’t yell bye like that at school!”
Oh boy, we were here already — Peer Pressure Avenue.
Even my clothes weren’t spared. You used to tell me once, “Maa, perhaps not this one, it’s… not your finest moment.” I giggled. I also evolved.
Because I realized, you’re looking at me with fresher eyes.
You’re judging.
You’re creating your own style.
You’re growing.
But growth isn’t always a smooth curve.
There are bumps — bad moods, big feelings, sulks, and slammed doors. And yet, you show up.
You help clean the table. You ask questions when you don’t understand.
You apologise after you flare up. You let me apologise too and that’s grace.
You’ve shown me that guts aren’t necessarily saying the right thing. Sometimes it’s doing the right thing — even when no one applauds.
And yes, you now own your world more than my own with peers, opinions, and platforms. But if there’s one thing I want to give you, it’s this.
Growth isn’t about becoming someone different. It’s about becoming more you.
So go ahead, say no to stuff that feels off. Get out of the room when the crowd doesn’t align with your compass. Wear what you love. And yeah, call me out when I screw up too.
Because growth is a two-way street.
Keep growing. Keep being fearless.
And never forget, grit isn’t noise, it’s persistence.
Love,
Maa
(The one who still thinks your pet name is cute – deal with it, kid.)
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