We dads want to be there for our kids. We really do. But, his teachers always look at the moms and speak! It’s almost like we don’t exist. In fact, one of his teachers today started off on how he does not sit in one place, always in a hurry and what not. Things we already knew. I think a smile slipped me – ok, I did smile; indulgently. What I hear next is that the teacher is telling my wife that they will try a few things over the next one month and see how it goes. She helpfully suggested that I don’t need to be bothered with such things. Relief and rejection washed over me.

I tried to salvage the situation saying, Dhruv listens to me in general, if I scold it has an effect and what not. The teacher was like, “how much can you scold a child? Please don’t bother.”

After that we met the class teacher and she also went on in a similar vein. I kept silent and just kept listening. At some point, she mentioned a very interesting perspective, and I could not help comment, “is that so?”. She looked at the wife and said ‘yes’ and the conversation went on. Then we were told to meet with the co-ordinator and more discussions ensued. I sat very comfortably like furniture in the room.

So, how do we contribute if we are not even taken seriously!?  Is this not discrimination? When I brought up this subject, Vidya tells me to enrol him in a boys school where there will be male teachers who will then speak to me. Sigh!