Trust Yourself: A Guide for Indian Parents

Trust Yourself: A Guide for Indian Parents
4 min read

Series · 19 partsStart with Part 1 →

You’re sitting at the kitchen table, feeling the weight of your child’s future on your shoulders. You’ve heard the advice from teachers, relatives, and even strangers, but deep down, you know your child better than anyone else. I’ve seen many parents struggle with this, caught between external expectations and their own instincts. This series is a collection of insights and experiences that aim to reinforce your intuition. Trust yourself. You are the expert on your child, and together, we’ll explore how to navigate the challenges of parenting in a way that honors that expertise.

Introduction

  1. Trust Yourself: I recently found myself revisiting an old friend, a book that has been a steadfast companion for many parents, Benjamin Spock’s “Baby and Child Care.
  2. Before You Begin: I’ve often found myself in a curious position: straddling the worlds of medicine and business, two arenas that, at first glance, seem to be as different as night and day.
  3. Contents: I’ve been thinking a lot about sentences lately.

Parental Insights

  1. The Sentence That Still Matters: Last week, as I sat in my clinic after a long day, I found myself reflecting on a sentence that has quietly but persistently shaped my approach to both medicine and investing: “…
  2. You Are the Expert on This Child: I was observing a consultation the other day, and it struck me how often parents defer to the perceived authority of professionals like me.
  3. Daily Contact Is Better Data: I remember the moment vividly when Vikram, an earnest young father, walked into my clinic with a look of deep concern etched across his face.
  4. Twelve Moments You Already Know: Last week, I watched a child at a wedding buffet, devouring every sweet treat and savory snack in sight.

Modern Parenting Challenges

  1. The Instagram Expert: I was sitting in my clinic, waiting for my next patient, when I overheard a young couple in the waiting room discussing their latest parenting dilemma.
  2. The Screen Is Someone Else’s Timetable: I’ve been observing something unsettling in both my clinic and my investment meetings.

Parental Techniques

  1. Watch, Try, Adjust: I’ve been thinking about the delicate balance between observation and action, a principle that rings true in both my medical practice and my investment ventures.
  2. Hands On, Not Handed Over: When I think about parenting today, I am reminded of a compound in Vasai where I witnessed a peculiar transformation.
  3. Free Time Is the Curriculum: I was sitting in my clinic the other day, reviewing patient files, when a thought struck me, one that has been brewing for quite some time.
  4. Agency Is Not Indulgence: I’ve been thinking a lot about agency lately, particularly in the context of Indian households and the upbringing of children.
  5. Respect, Not the Cram: I recently found myself sitting across from a young patient, not in my IVF clinic, but in a different setting altogether, a friend’s home in Pune.
  6. Food, Sleep, and the Obvious Thing: — I’ve spent a fair bit of my career observing how parents interact with their children, both in the clinic and in my personal life.
  7. A Month You Can Actually Live: I recently found myself reflecting on the overwhelming amount of advice that parents and educators are bombarded with every day.

Parental Advocacy

  1. When the Teacher Is Wrong About Your Child: I’ve always believed that a good teacher can see what a parent might miss.

Family Dynamics

  1. Grandparents: Keep the Love, Keep the Judgment: I’ve been thinking about the role of grandparents in the contemporary Indian family, a topic that seems to oscillate between reverence and irrelevance depending on whom you ask.

Parental Support

  1. A Letter to the Parent Who Is Tired: Dear Parent, I saw a mother yesterday in my clinic, her eyes weary, her spirit heavy, carrying the invisible weight that so many parents bear.