Write to Mita

Dear Mita,
I am a 23-year-old business student . I have completed my BBA degree and am pursuing a MBA. The business world is quite competitive and strong communication and inter-personal skills are a must to develop a career in this field. But I have a stammering problem. I can't communicate with ease. Now it seems to me that I have chosen a wrong career path but I can't walk away from this right now. I have been suffering from sheer mental torture. To make things worse, my family is not co-operating with me. They think that I am quite okay and that all of this is just the imagination of my nervous mind. Please Don't tell me to talk to them as I have done so on several occasions. Please advise me on what to do.
Ill-fated

Dear Ill-fated,
First, I do not believe that you are ill-fated. Anyone who has the ability or the means to pursue an MBA degree cannot be ill fated. Please count your blessings and learn to cope with this adverse situation. You should get in touch with a speech therapist and get some advice. Depending how serious your situation is, he/she might recommend some therapy which will help. However, the most important thing is to develop self-confidence and self-belief. I know of many people who have been successful in a variety of professions with a stammer. Perhaps they are going about it the wrong way but your family is only trying to help by downplaying the problem. Continue to talk with them and your friends.

Dear Mita,
My parents are over cautious. They don't allow me to watch movies even though I am a college student. They think that vulgar scenes in movies can corrupt me! They don't even allow me to go out with my friends. Sometimes they also say that there is no reason to have friends! So they don't allow me to receive my friends' phone calls and my friends always get me wrong. What should I do about my parents?
R

Dear R,
The only thing you can do is talk to your parents about how the world has changed and that some of their values are no longer relevant. Try to bring home some good movies and watch it with them. Keep your communications open and they will relent someday.

Dear Mita,
I have a very strange problem. I hate smoking or any kind of addiction but my parents think that I am an addict. Just a year ago, they took me to a doctor for check-up. The doctor thought that I was alright. My parents were happy at that time but now they are again suspecting that I am an addict. This kind of unreasonable suspicion is making my life unbearable . What should I do now?
Sa

Dear Sa,
Your parents must have some reason to believe that you are an addict. It is your job to convince them that you are not. If you behave in a responsible, disciplined way then they will have no reason to suspect you. Perhaps there is something in your lifestyle that they don't like. Please talk to them about it and find the basis of their suspicion.

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