What are you going to be when you become big?

I was talking to my son Balaji as I drove him to his school this morning. I was asking him, playfully, "what are you going to be, when you become big?" He thought for a while and said "I am going to be a Doctor". I was asking him what kind of a doctor that he wants to be. He didn't know. He is all of 4 years now. And he has not yet made up his mind on which part of the human body that he wants to take up as a Doctor.

He then smiled at me and asked me : "what are YOU going to BE when you become big?"

I was taken aback. I haven't really contemplated my future in exactly those terms. Becoming big? For me? I was at a loss for words. I told him that I have already become big. That I am going to office.

He laughed. He disagreed with me. "I don't think you have become big. You are small only, only bigger than me". I smiled at him, again being at a loss for words. He asked again. "When you are through with the office, what are you going to be?"

By that time, his school had come and I dropped him off along with his sister Meenakshi.

I still haven't figured out the answer..

At times what kids ask you make you think a lot deeper than you have previously done...!

Guess I have to figure out!

I remember asking my daughter, Meenakshi the same question couple of years back. When I asked her, she thought for a!while and said, emphatically, "I am going to be a Mother!".

Well. One never knows how the kids will answer your questions. But, one can be sure that whatever their answers be, they make you wonder and make you think of things that you haven't really thought before!