When I hear parents announce boastfully my child shall be second to none among friends and relatives.. I wonder why are they burdening their child with such unrealistic expectations ? Is it more important for them that their child marches ahead in the proverbial rat race or is a happy , well-rounded individual.. When i was a child a neighbour of mine who was Doctorate in Physics was forced to sit at home by her husband..her son bore the brunt of this.. Even though he was an excellent performer in school she seldom took pride in his achievements and kept egging him on to do better..Once the poor fellow scored a phenomenal 97 in maths and the mother merely asked him baaki ke 3 marks kahan gaye ? I was shocked…had I scored something close to this my folks would have been over the moon..but this woman wasn’t cause she had killed her own aspirations and was now living vicariously through her son.. Are children to bear the burden of our unfulfilled dreams and desires ..Aren’t they entitled to have their own…I really wish more parents gave this a thought…
And why don’t they realise…that not all are perfect or can be engineers or doctors…or whatever…they desire!!! Am sure someway or the other …they are special in their own ways…they have their own talents!! They should encourage them and not set benchmarks/expectations..as they desire!! Worst I have seen is they comparing wid other children..”uske bete ko dekha kitne marks laya n all!!”
But isnt this somehow the case ? Failed careers or unfulfilled aspirations often make parents push their children willy nilly to superlative achievements