What Kind of Time Is This? What Kind of System Is This?

This series of Letters to the Editor addresses the urgent need for parents to take greater responsibility for the safety and guidance of their children in the face of growing violence, including school shootings like the recent tragedy at Emory University in Atlanta. The central message is clear: Families must become self-reliant, with parents acting as “the government” within their own homes—providing safety, discipline, and moral guidance without waiting for broken systems to act. The letters call for change that begins not with politics, but with personal responsibility and the values we teach at home.

“When the gardener eats the flowers, the garden will not survive.”

America Today: Emory University shooting,

I did not come to America by accident.
From India, I moved to Canada. From Canada, I came to the United States. When I first set foot in Santa Monica, California, a thought came instantly: “Why am I not here?”

I closed my eyes and prayed to the universe: Bring me here within a year. Like every other prayer in my life, this one was answered. Nineteen years later, America still feels new to me. The sight of the words “Los Angeles” on a signboard can still make my heart blossom. I know my relationship with this country is not of one lifetime—it is older, deeper, and spiritual.

Then the News Arrives

This morning, after my bath, I sat at my computer. I opened the news.
Another headline. Another shooting. This time, at Emory University in Atlanta.

Where has the system gone?
Where has America’s prestige gone?
Where is the police, the discipline, the protection we once believed in?
If a child is not safe in school, how can any citizen feel safe anywhere?

Not Just About Government

My questions today are not for any single government or political party. When the gardener starts eating the flowers, no one will take care of the garden. One day, the flowers will disappear.

So my questions are for parents. For families.

Whose children are these? Are they the government’s? Society’s? Or yours?

When the law starts erasing the law…
When discipline vanishes…
When the hunger of the ruler and the ruled becomes the same…
Then every family must learn to be self-reliant.

Parents as the New Government

Today, parents must become the government within their own homes—not waiting for the system to protect their children, but creating safety, discipline, and guidance themselves.

Look at the most searched topics on Google today: spiritual life, meditation, and yoga. Why? Because people are desperate for peace, meaning, and direction.

We have given children the world, but not the understanding of how to live in it. If the students themselves are not safe, it is not just a tragedy—it is a shame.

More than hospitals, we need leaders—in homes, in communities, and in classrooms—who can create an environment where life can grow in safety and dignity.

Quotes

“If a child is not safe in school, how can a citizen feel safe anywhere?”

“Families must learn to be more self-reliant.”

“Today, parents must become the government within their own homes.”

“We have given children the world, but not the understanding to live in it.”

My Devotion

It starts personally—I start with my own love story with America. I am not a critic; I am a person who has a deep emotional connection to every part of life.

I always live in the present; whether it is my story or someone else’s, whatever I hear or read is mine. So my existence connects to current events—I connected my thoughts to an event happening right now (the Emory University shooting), which makes the essay relevant and important.

It shifts the focus from politics to family responsibility—instead of just blaming the government or the system, I am asking the tough questions of parents and families today, because that is what gives moral force to this article and purpose to my life.

It ends with a clear call for change—the idea that “parents should become the government in their homes” is strong, memorable, and practical, as I said.

My words have both heart and sharpness—my writing is warm when talking about America but firm when talking about its current failures. Only such a balance can make our lives worth living.