Abhishek Bachchan doesn’t think his parents are the best teachers. He also doesn’t want to adopt the parenting strategy that his parents followed with him to raise his daughter Aaradhya. During a recent interview, Abhishek opened up in detail about parenting and his take on generational gap.
“I don’t know if parents are the best teachers; I’m on the fence on that. I think our emotions come in the way. Our desire for our children to get it right and succeed and not hurt themselves comes in the way. Our emotions towards them may colour our judgment,” he said.
Further elaborating on this belief, he explained, “I think a parent should lead and teach by example. Whatever I’ve learned and imbibed from my parents is by seeing the way they conduct themselves, not necessarily by what they told me I should be doing.”
So, how does he do things differently with Aaradhya?
“I think they will show you the way ahead. The one thing I’ve realised with the younger generations is that they’re very different,” he remarked.
“To start with, they have no sense of hierarchy like we did. In the case of our generation, if your parents said something, you just listened to it. The younger generation is far more inquisitive. They want to know why; they’re not just going to do something because their parents have said it. Just because you’re older, doesn’t mean that you have all the right answers,” he added.
“The younger generations are not dependent on their parents. We went to our elders for their wisdom and experience. Today’s kids have it in the palm of their hands. So, they need a justification for doing something and I think that’s wonderful,” he also stated.
Abhishek also revealed that his experience with his nephew and niece, Navya Naveli Nanda and Agastya Nanda, also played a great role in taking on parenthood when Aaradhya was born.
“With Aaradhya, I had a bit of a soft landing because I saw my niece and nephew grow up. So, I knew what to expect with Aaradhya. They are, by no means, rude. It’s just that we have to tilt our perspectives a bit,” he said.
Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan married in April 2007 and welcomed their daughter Aaradhya Bachchan in November 2011.
On their work front, they worked together in seven films – Dhai Akshar Prem Ke, Kuch Naa Kaho, Dhoom 2, Umrao Jaan, Guru, Sarkar Raj, and Raavan.
