In Kashmir, whenever society feels unsettled, the first target is always the present generation. We complain about falling morals, about children not respecting elders, about youngsters being disconnected from culture and values. Almost every drawing-room discussion ends with the same sigh: “Our times were better.”

As a teacher, I listen to these conversations carefully. And quietly, I ask myself a question that is rarely asked aloud: Who raised this generation? Children do not emerge from nowhere. They are shaped—slowly, silently—inside homes, long before they step into classrooms or society.

Our parents were simple people. Most of them were not highly educated. Many had never travelled beyond their districts. They did not speak the language of psychology or modern pedagogy. Yet they knew something precious—the fibre of parenting.

Home mattered to them. Time mattered. After long and tiring days, they still sat with us. Sometimes on a floor mat, sometimes near a hearth, sometimes under a dim bulb. They asked us where we had been, what we had done, how we had behaved. These were not interrogations; they were moments of connection.

They taught us values without calling them values. Respect was not explained—it was practised. We watched........

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