Indian parents are hellbent on making their kids the next Einstein only to brag about it to the next-door Sharma uncle. The training to show off their child’s skills starts at a very young age. ‘Beta aunty ko dance/sing karke dikhaoo,’ is a familiar chant common in most Indian households. In the rat race to enroll kids in the bestest of schools, parents often forget to slow down and allow the child some breathing space, at least in the formative years. Because we all know it’s only going to get tougher after each hyped-up exam or turning point which is fed to us as the final solution to enjoy a relaxed life. The least we can do is not ruin childhood with unnecessary burdens and expectations from the kid. A recent post on Reddit evoked shocked responses from users who were aghast at parents enquiring about a company that claimed to make baby prodigies by the age of two with their educational modules. The Stanford graduate who runs the programme, says in the video that he conducted over 2000 hours of study to come up with this model which enabled his child to “crawl at 2 months, master 200 plus words at 18 months, and read and sing in perfect harmony at 24 months.” He also said that after meeting Bill Gates, he realised the most important development stage of an individual, which is before a baby turns two years old. The ‘Prodigy Framework Program’ aims to reverse a process called ‘Synaptic Pruning’ which makes babies lose their inborn abilities by age two, if not honed well. Many enthusiastic parents commented on the post asking for more details. One parent even said, “I just delivered my baby eight days back. Where can I take this course?”
The Reddit thread wrote “Why do misleading bullshit businesses like this get away without any consequences? What can be done to report likes of these?”
Users commented on social constructs which force people to follow a certain life plan to satisfy society’s constant questioning. Others poked fun at the incredulity of the programme with one user commenting “Isn’t 3 month baby a little old to crawl? I mean it should be solving integration questions by now.”
Earlier, three-year-old Armaan Raheja from Delhi, become one of the youngest artists in the history of India Habitat Centre to hold a solo exhibition. The child prodigy, who started school last year at Vasant Valley School, donated the proceeds from the sale of paintings to benefit children affected/orphaned by COVID-19.
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