KOCHI: Arguably, parenting can never be taught in a class, because a lot of it emerges from the realisations of a parent concerning him/or her and the children. As time passes, the relationship between parents and children endure clashes, challenges and even moral dilemmas.
Writer Asha Iyer Kumar’s new book ‘That Pain in The Womb’ reflects on this complicated dynamic between parents and children. The book is a collection of 12 short stories with realistic, relatable characters and contexts.
Asha, a Palakkad-native, is settled in Dubai since 1998. ‘That Pain in The Womb’ is her sixth book. She has been a creative writing coach for the past 22 years, and this has helped her understand many children and their parents and the relationship they share, nurturing 12 soul-steering, emotional, feel-good short stories. “They were all written during different times. I thought the collection makes up for a good read. I designed and published them myself. I am an empath. Most of my writings are formed from my experience,” says Asha.
Stories like Salma’s Silence, Payback and Being Me are from the perspective of children, whereas Return of the Spring, That Pain in The Womb and Distressed Jeans, share a parent’s point of view. “Parenting is a daily challenge for many. Children these days are exposed to many things, widening the generation gap between parents and them. Even though parents listen to their children, many kids complain they can’t ‘understand’. Also, many parents even have no clue to direct the right and wrong to their children,” Asha elaborates.
She claims the basic remedy is to deliver the children essential values — like talking to them about the importance of one’s life, speaking or acting with fairness and imparting them lessons on justice and equality.
On the other hand, the book also reflects on parents’ inability to see past their own blinding love for their kids, how motherly love can conceal a child’s wrongdoing. The Gift of Petrichor is about mother nature who is distressed by the actions of her child.