Letter to Indian Parents: Let your daughters travel solo

Posted on August 3, 2017 by Ghoomophiro

Dear Indian Parent,

We all know the bond Indian parents have with their kids. Moreover, the way they keep their child a part of the family even after he has become self-reliant and starts a family of his own. That bond between a parent and a child is incomprehensibly strong but the second you told your daughter that she couldn’t go on that weekend trip with her friends, you broke her heart.

We understand you are being protective. The world is a big harsh place but if you don’t let your child go out into the world, face those hardships, travel across borders and see the kindness of strangers, you will be robbing them of the simple joys of life.I understand your mentality of having your kid get good grades, join a stable job, start a family but

We understand your mentality of having your kid get good grades, join a stable job, start a family but traveling is not a ‘luxury’ for the rich like it was before. Now, it is a necessity for the wandering soul. Today, the youth is more curious and hates to be confined. You could see the wanderlust in your child’s eye when they mention some far off place. And you can see the sadness too when you shoot down their hopes at ever being there.

Today, technology had made it too easy to stay in touch and the internet has made it convenient to know all you can about the place you visit. So, even with all these precautions, if you don’t let the apple of your eye, get on a bus with a backpack and go seek out the greater perhaps, then what is the point of all those years of education and nourishment?

Humans weren’t meant for routine and staying at the same place. In the heart of every one is a little spark of passion towards seeing the whole world and its wonders. And life is the greatest teacher imaginable.

When you send your daughter to go see the world, she will come back a more compassionate, self-reliant and gentle soul than when she left. Despite all the fears of uncertainty that one is thrown in the midst of in the start, most of us, we make it in the end. We adapt and adjust. You pamper your kids, indulge their every wish, teach them to be fair, strong and kind but don’t allow them the freedom to ever be that. How can they be with you always behind them, supporting them when they fall, correcting them when they go wrong?

Some lessons, one needs to learn on his own. And the world is so wide, its secrets vast and beautiful. Don’t you wish to let your child witness all of it, before they go back to the mundane routine and stability which is a cage from which there is no escaping?

Being a travel blogger myself, this is the one question that I have come across a lot. I am an Indian. How do I persuade my parents to let me travel? Even self-reliant independent people have asked this question which makes me wonder, what keeps them from just walking out of their families and just doing what they want anyway?

Love and respect.

So, shouldn’t you consider their feelings as well? Yes, they will have to take on many responsibilities and be careful. There will be times when they struggle but in the end, they will come back with a smile on their faces and lots of experience tagging behind them. Even you would be amazed at the stories they will have and the transformation that would have occurred. They will become everything you wanted them to be, and more.

So the next time your child asks you, “Can I go on this trip?”

Say yes.

Happy Travelling

Ghoomophirosisters