Recently I witnessed an elderly couple getting drenched, as water was poured on them, at the end of an auspicious ceremony, which was conducted to commemorate their forty years of togetherness.

Curiously, I asked the Guru for the reason. The guru placed a vessel filled with water and let out a thunderous clap. I saw ripples of waves emanating from a central point in the water. He said " This is why?"

He explained that the water which was poured over the couple was "powered" with the vibration of the mantras that was recited by the Gurus over the course of the ceremony.

He said that the positive sound vibrations from perfectly recited mantras at the right intonations tend to fill the water with loads of "positive energy", which will have a revitalizing impact on the couple, ultimately benefiting them.

I was instantly able to relate the Guru's claims to a theory propagated by Dr Emoto Masaru, a Japanese researcher.

Emoto believed that water was a "blueprint for our reality and that emotional "energies" and "vibrations" could change the molecular structure of water. Emoto's water crystal experiments consisted of exposing water in glasses to different words, pictures or music, and then freezing and examining the aesthetic properties of the resulting crystals with microscopic photography.

Emoto made the observation that water exposed to positive speech and thoughts would result in visually pleasing crystals being formed when that water was frozen, and that negative intention would yield "ugly" frozen crystals.

Whether there is truth to the claims of the Indian and Japanese guru; it gives a clear interpretation for our approach towards children. Your child's body is made up mostly of water. Every negative word you utter, every yell you let out may end up having a profound impact on your child's physical and mental structure.

Who knows, they might end up developing ugly water crystals. On the contrary, positive words and encouragement might, according to these gurus, benefit them in unimaginable ways. Time for some positivity in our parenting approach?