I am a 50 year old woman, married from last 25 years, have 3 kids, currently staying in USA. My eldest is happily married in India after studying from Barnard Women’s college, New York. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/sTKr-i8D6Kw
My second daughter, studied at NYU Stern, currently in Morgan & Stanley as an investment banker, and my son, 21, is currently studying at NYU Stern. All my 3 kids st
ayed in New York because of their studies and on weekends they used to visit us in New Jersey. I was born and brought up in a very small city called Sonipat, Haryana (India) where everybody knew each other and all of my relatives were located within 1 to 5 mile radius. At that time, just even talking to a boy, was a very big deal and I used to be scared that my cousins and even my neighbors would give me dirty looks. The things which i saw in Manoj Kumar movie : Purab aur Paschim, I was able to witness that now. After having my kids, I realized that I am not doing justice to them because I was helping my husband full time in his import, export business and kids were alone at home with their granny. So my husband and I decided to move to India temporarily for kids’ schooling and for around 10 years, we kept on coming back and forth to USA and finally moved to USA for their college. They stayed at campus or their apartment. I never liked the idea that kids are staying away on their own at a tender age and becoming too independent. On top of it, they were not getting home made food. These things always bothered me but because, it is a norm these days, so I kind of accepted. But I always felt very helpless, when I heard the stories of kids over drinking at campus, live in relationships, drugs and witnessed many brilliant kids in a confusing state of mind, and also saw their families in pain because of the kids. Last year in 2015, I started visiting my kids very frequently in New York and whenever I was there my kids’ friends self invited themselves for homemade food. The way they appreciated food and rewarded me with hugs, it really nourished my soul. One day, after having 15 kids at my place and having dinner together like a big family, when I went to bed, I was very tired and curling in my bed but still I prayed to God with folded hands that God I am ready to work even harder and take care of these kids. I want to give these kids “home away from home” environment and at the same time preserve Indian culture. My motherly instinct was not letting me sleep because I realized kids were home sick, they needed parental guidance and they were doing a lot of unnecessary activities because of their peer pressure and also because there were no other options available, where they can channelize their energy in a positive manner. So my vision is to open a center named “ Om Kunba- Happy Family” where everyone will feel like a member of a big happy family ( including two dogs ) , where everyday will be a celebration, beaming with positive vibrations; doing activities like yoga, meditation, singing, dancing, debates, quiz, fashion show, cooking, outdoor picnics, nature walks, birthday night, community service, going on vacation together, karaoke night, gratitude night, motivational talks, Tedx talks, Art of living Happiness course, “ pani puri” night, etc. From my experience, when kids will come to “pani puri” night, I can guarantee, they won’t feel like going to pubs.
