Guwahati, Aug. 10 -- There was a video of one of Dolly Parton's live shows that I remember watching several times over forty years ago. She is one of my favourite musicians. Dolly was a great communicator too and would speak about aspects of growing up in the Appalachian Mountains, which inspired many of her songs. In this show, she spoke of the time when she coloured her hair and her horrified mother attributed Dolly's decision to the Devil. Dolly's repartee to her mother: "Let's give credit to where it belongs. It was all me, not the Devil."

When kids go astray, it is almost a reflex action for parents to blame their kids' friends, never ever entertaining the thought that it could very well be their own kids who are the main culprits a...