When everyone is a prodigy-in-making

The recent success of Indian athletes at the Tokyo Olympics would help change the perception of the word ‘career’ in the hearts and minds of millions of Indian parents. Ever since one can recall, most parenting advice about career choices oscillated between a small degree of understanding to an innate conviction that they knew best. Even though there might have been instances, some even from within their families, parents often end up insisting on constant course correction in a child’s formative years. While few things in this world can be achieved by force, most parents believed that anything that transcended the handful of career options was suicidal in India. 

In the recent past, when more people have enjoyed success in what would traditionally be called unconventional professions, many parents have started ‘investing’ in the kids’ future. The mission is clear—nurture all-around geniuses. As a result, you now have five-year-olds gliding from one coaching class to another where every child is seen as the next Tiger Woods or PV Sindhu. 

A few weeks ago, this writer got a call from a friend’s friend wanting career advice for her seven-year-old son, who has written a book. Among the questions, one pondered if a social media manager to handle the kid’s online presence was a good idea. In an ideal world, children shouldn’t grow up forced to fit into a mould created by parents, sometimes much before their birth. Could the reason for this perhaps lie in the notion that most parents care more about being ‘good parents’ in a general sense than being good parents for their children? 

This situation is not as bad as when children are usually shunned for having a different approach or ideals during their growing-up years. Add to this the larger societal structure and an all-permeating mass and social media that stresses tapping into any potential as early as possible; what is left is a massive balancing act forcing children to excel at everything.

For every success story, there are scores resulting in a disaster. At the same time, there are also instances of children’s single-point focus on succeeding in a nonconformist career choice at the cost of everything else, leaving them in a lurch. Like most choices, unconventional careers, too, consist of being aware of limitations before trying to find strength within to go beyond. There has been a great emphasis on the right balance in nearly everything, particularly unconventional career choices. However, it’s not about striking equilibrium, as anything worth being passionate about can bring unbalance. Accepting this truth could possibly resolve a lot when it comes to traversing any less travelled road.

(gautam@chintamani.org)