The biggest lesson in parenting

Recently there was an interview in the radio with Andre Agassi. He is one of the best Tennis players we know. Even Federrer considers him his idol. But one thing none of us know is that he hated tennis. He never wanted to become a tennis player. He started playing tennis because of his father. His father wanted agassi to become a tennis player. Every day he made him hit more than 1000 tennis balls for practice. He said he used to practice every day for long hours. He always yearned to play with others and have a normal childhood and he regrets he never got a chance to have one.

We know the similar story with Michael Jackson. Even he went through the same kind of life. His father wanted him to succeed at any cost. Even he did not have a normal childhood. I have heard these stories with most of the child prodigies. Close to home, I heard that it was Sridevi's mother who pushed her into acting and dancing. I heard the same story with Hema Malini.

There is one common thread in all these stories. It was the parent's ambition that their son/daughter has to be in a profession. And they made their child go through a rigorous routine which robbed their childhood. In most of the cases they did not even find out if the child is enjoying what he/she is doing. The parent wanted to become something, they could not achieve it so they want to achieve it through their child whether the child is inclined towards it or not.

I was shocked to hear when Agassi said "I hated tennis". I think all these stories give us a biggest lesson in parenting that you should not force your children to fulfil your unfulfilled dreams. Treat them as separate individuals.