Indian Values you must instill in your child – respect, honesty, respect for religions and scriptures and many more.
Indian Values are popular in across the world. While we are constantly trying to become like the west and drifting away from our Indian values, there are many cultures across the world who still respect our values. But there are some Indian Values you must instill in your child because it is good to be ethically motivated, and have the ability to distinguish the good from bad.
The few fundamentals of Indian Values are – Tyaga (renunciation), Dana (charity), Nishtha (dedication), Satya (truth), Ahimsa (non-violence), Upeksha (forbearance). A lot of it can be practiced. But what are the basic Indian values you can teach kids?
Why do I want to Instill Indian Values in my child?
As a child, I was quite moved by Indian mythology. I have watched and read several mythological stories and epics – Mahabharat, Ramayan, Stories from Puraan, Prahlad, Durga Ashtami, Vishnu’s avatars etc. It was also because I was a dancer from a very young age and stories of mythology always comes up in Indian classical dance. The one thing you can always take out from any of these stories – The victory of Good over Evil.
These stories also teach you no matter what – truth wins and you must be intelligent enough to choose the good from the bad.
Let’s see what are the best Indian Values you must instill in your child.
5 Indian Values you must instill in your child
#1 Respect for Elders
Respect is one of the best Indian values you must instill in your child. I mentioned in my earlier post, respect for others makes a child humble. Respect for elders is considered a key characteristics of a person in Indian culture. How to teach a child to respect elders? Model it in front of them. When you respect elders in your family and neighbourhood, they learn how to respect them.
#2 Honesty – Nishta and Satya
Honesty to yourself is the most important lesson of life. Teach kids how to be honest. Teach them it is good to own up your mistakes, be honest about it and learn from the mistake. Tell them the harm of lying. No wonder it is considered – honesty is the best policy! Teach your kids to be dedicated towards hard work and be honest.
#3 Respect Religion – Ahimsa
Everyone has a religion and one should respect all religions. India being a secular country respects all religions. In today’s world religion is getting mixed with a lot of things. In its true sense, every religion teaches something good. A child should know how to respect each religion and its sentiments.
#4 Family Values
Family, today is a big topic of discussion. Family system is the strongest in Indian culture, perhaps. A loving family is essential in bringing up kids. It can be nuclear; it can be a joint family. But in today’s world, many kids grow up in dysfunctional families. These kids tend to have their own dysfunctional families too. Even in hard time, it is good to teach kids that love and care for family is crucial. Underneath everything, everyone wishes for a loving and caring family – because it brings joy.
Caring for the elders in family, is fundamental in Indian ethics. You shouldn’t be needing an appointment to meet your parents or grandparents.
#5 Good Education and Knowledge
Indian civilization is one of the oldest civilization is the world. Knowledge is fundamental of our culture. Knowledge doesn’t mean what you read in textbooks. While a good education is important and right of every child, gaining knowledge about the good and the bad is also imperative.
“Ekam sat vipraha, bahudha vadanti.” – Truth is one, the wise call it by various names.
So here are my two bits on Indian Values you must instill in your child. Do you do anything to instill Indian culture and values in your child? Let me know.
I am sharing Parenting hacks for Millennial Moms on this Season of A to Z Challenge. Adding the post links as I post them.
A – Amazing Moms
B-Boys -What Boys Need from their moms
C – How to be a calm mom
D – Discipline kids without yelling
E – Raising Emotionally healthy Kids
F – French Parenting Tips
G – Gentle Parenting
Until next time.
Cheers.
Tina
Xoxo
7 comments
I absolutely agree with you. Inculcating the right values can be bit of challenge keeping in view the extensive exposure they are subject to. Be it from their surroundings, from peers, friends, school or media. Yes, to make it possible, we need to be their role models!!
All the five values you have mentioned are so important. It should be the duty of parents to teach these values. They may not get all these values from school.
I remember reading in a Twinkle Khanna book, how she was once in some hospital or clinic in an european province and she saw old patients waiting out their turn. And she it extremely unnerving because in India we never leave our elders alone. If the kids are not around, there will always be a relative, a cousin or a neighbor to accompany them. I guess that’s unique to our country.
Wow, the title of this post dragged me towards it. How pure, how beautiful are the virtues. We must cultivate these purity on our children. Nice post.
All the values mentioned by you are so important and I as a mother also give these a lot of importance. Loved your post and I am glad there are more moms from the same school of thought 🙂
Loved all the lessons you want to teach.Ahimsa is dicey though !Your some is a sweet heart and you are an awesome mo..
These are must have values. As parents, it is our responsibility to inculcate these values, morals and ethics in our children early on.These values will help your children cope with the challenges of the real world with grace and confidence as they grow up.