It is a remarkable job, this parenting thing. You have no classes in school - no it is not in the core curriculum for GSAT, secondary school, college or university - no parenting training. No salary at the end of the month - nope, it is, as far is money is concerned, an Alibutton job. It is the most challenging job in the world - there is no script to follow, for each child has his or her own mould.

If we consider our role carefully, we must also take into account what we have done. I do believe that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Unfortunately or fortunately, there are many cradles and many hands rocking, or not doing any rocking, that are contributing to the twisted world that we live in.

Crime and such misdeeds are products of our rocking hands. Yes, as we continue to groom a society with distorted values and dissolving codes of respect for anything, we must expect that what was considered acceptable human behaviour will become warped too.

The people who have a rationale for not greeting anyone who they pass ("I don't know them" "They don't answer back" "I don't like them"), do so because parents never thought it important to instil this as a value in their heads when they were young.

Small challenge to you parents out there - suppose we try with just that one thing, the return of manners in our people. Just one thing, small as it is, will make a difference to how we relate to each other.