Yesterday, I got two messages which were instructive. One was from a physical education teacher who wrote to me having read my piece on Vaibhav Suryavanshi. I had argued that while we applaud him, we should not push the same envelope for our children. The teacher in question asked me a simple question. Vaibhav has said he used to wake up at 2am and his parents, mother in his case, did the same with him. Shouldn’t we wake up our kids at 3:30am and start training them? Isn’t that the best time?
The answer to this is that I have no answer.
The second question is equally pertinent and this is from a fellow parent who happens to be an acquaintance. Vaibhav bats for 600 balls a day. We should show this statistic to our children, for they will feel the urge to do more.
Really?
Vaibhav is not the norm. He is an aberration. The fact that his mother woke him up at 2am and did all that she did shouldn’t prompt most mothers to do the same. We can’t be a herd. Each kid to their own, and most children – and I repeat most – need at least 7-8 hours of sleep. To deprive them and wake them up at 2am or 3:30am, as I was asked, is plain madness. If this is done for a year or more and no results are seen on the horizon, as would be the case in most cases, there is bound to be bitterness at both ends. The child will start to resent the parent, and the parent will start to resent the underachievement. That’s why we urge caution. And balance. Celebrate Vaibhav, don’t try and emulate him.
Also Read: Celebrate Vaibhav Suryavanshi, don’t push the envelope for your child
And let me also say this. Vaibhav too will fail. Sooner rather than later. While all seems great for him at the moment, failure is indeed round the corner, and it will test him. We have seen the same happen to Prithvi Shaw and many more. Even the great Sachin Tendulkar, after his first Test innings in Pakistan, started to doubt himself and ask if he belonged at the highest level. Vaibhav will be no different. So let him go down the path that he is, while your son or daughter pursue their calling.
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My own daughter is 11. As someone deeply entrenched in sport, I was keen that she pursue sport as a career. She wasn’t inclined. In fact, she was not at all keen. We let her pursue her calling. Be it literature, be it art, be it academics – let her do what she wants, but do it well.
No boy or girl of 15-16 years of age should be asked to wake up at 2am. Not by seeing Vaibhav. That is his calling and he is welcome to it. Yet again, while we all sit up and applaud him and his parents for doing the unthinkable, please note that it is the unthinkable. It can’t be repeated, for many would have done it then. Your son or daughter can still be a very good sportsperson by getting up at 5am. The waking hour, 2am or 5am, is not the benchmark. Can never be. The faster we understand that, the better it is for us as a society.