Navratri is not just a festival in Hindu religion or mythology. It has a deeper context that we all realise. Not only does it celebrate the feminine energy (not to be confused with gender of male or female); it also has a color-coded symbol and meaning attached to it. So, let’s understand how these 9 nights correspond with the different avatars of Goddesses and also keep a helpful pointer for bringing up our kids too.

Navratri

1. Happiness is not just a state of mind. It is habit forming through positive strokes, appreciation and having hope of goodness. Instilling this quality in a child, ensures better mental health from a very young age.
2. Kids need to be taught that embracing growth is important. In the world of technology and advancements, one can’t sit and think of being modestly threadbare. It is important to grow well, into empathetic human beings but also grow professionally and personally.
3. Temptations that are evil can be quite alluring. Giving the kids choices and their impact from small beginnings like good and bad, like and dislike, etc to more abstract concepts of truth and falsehood, good and evil can be taken up as part of their upbringing.
4. Invite knowledge and tranquility into one’s life with the belief that knowledge is not only important but it brings in a sense of equilibrium of understanding things and working on them.
5. Infuse purity, peace and meditation into everyday life format. Meditation to reduce stress is a must, be it adults or children. Meditation time and activity can be worked upon keeping the age of the child in mind. They can be indulged into activities that indirectly lead to meditative state like yogasana or art therapy. 
6. Fearlessness inspires the confidence to take risks in professional life as adults. Being fearless ensures that they slowly learn to be independent and have the confidence of being alone for sometime or facing certain situations if need arises without panicking.
7. Energy is an important aspect of life. To be energetic means you are fully embracing life’s opportunities and being in the present moment, enjoying it. 
8. Compassion is a true capstone quality for every human being. Children when taught compassion grow up to be empathetic and have better listening skills. 
9. Goal or ambition in life is always a great motivator to govern our life’s roadmap. Instill the idea of having a goal or ambition from a young age. It need not be grand or big. Something that’s related to both academic and personal goals can have a great impact on how they envision goals in future as adults.

If these 9 lessons won’t help your child – we think none will. These are basic yet so beautiful that they really help the transition of a child into an adult a lot better. (Navratri)