In India, we are used to the idea of having a Sharma ji ka beta / beti who will constantly make us look bad in front of our parents. But after all these years, we’ve come to realise that it isn’t Shama ji or the kid’s fault. It’s our parents, for comparing us constantly. Do we really think that works in motivating children?
The perfect response to this thought process is teacher, author, and Infosys chairperson, Sudha Murthy’s little piece of advice from her 2017 speech that has stayed with us all these years. Where she emphasised on the importance of knowledge and not marks.
In 2017, she visited the Jamnabai Narsee Campus in Mumbai and interacted with the students there. However, she did add a few words of wisdom for the parents who constantly compare their children to other students and in the process, demotivate them. And those words have sadly stayed true, even in 2021.
She compared children to flowers and said that every single one of them was unique, with their own beautiful skill set that sets them apart.
Her advise is comforting to children who find themselves feeling pressured to perform, especially in the middle of a pandemic.
Watch the full video here:
This is not the first time she has inspired us and it won’t be the last.