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Regular-article-logo Sunday, 24 November 2024

Kajol says parenting is like an internship with a child

The star says the #MeToo movement should be adopted not just in Bollywood but in every industry

PTI Published 23.09.18, 07:03 PM
Kajol

Kajol Source: File Picture

Kajol has said that while she is strict with her children Nysa and Yug, husband Ajay Devgn is the one who spoils them.

The actress said they play the “good cop-bad cop” routine in real life but Ajay has realised the importance of setting their kids straight.

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“I’m a Hitler mother... I’m a bad cop, Ajay’s a good cop...But the percentage of the good cop has dropped in him. He has realised that it is necessary to be a bad cop sometimes. That he can’t always look at the mother to say ‘no’. I’m 30 per cent bad cop, 70 per cent good cop,” Kajol said in New Delhi last week.

The actress said parenting does not come with a manual and no amount of training can help a person.

“It’s a very much a hands-on job... You have to do an internship with a child... You have to know that you will make mistakes and that others will make mistakes. You’ll have to forgive them and yourself. It is one of the most rewarding jobs... To see your children growing up to become good human beings,” she said.

Kajol said TV and films have established an image of ideal mother, which many first-timers try to achieve. “An ideal is there. That a good mother cooks food, does this and does that... She sacrifices her life for their kids. If your child thinks you are a good mother, that’s the opinion that matters,” she said, adding that social media has changed everything and one cannot protect their children from its impact.

“The least you can do is encourage them to be who they are, irrespective of shape, size, colour... That ‘you matter, you’re loved and you’re beautiful inside out,” she said.

Kajol said her children never stopped her to go to work. “Maybe in childhood, they asked ‘Why you have to go away?’ But today when my daughter says ‘I’m so proud of you’, I cannot be more proud of myself for having earned that recognition. I hope my kids are not affected by my celebrity status. I have tried my best to keep them as normal as possible. I believe they have their head on their shoulders. I think I’ve done a good job,” she said.

Asked if daughter Nysa would want to join the industry, how she would help, Kajol said: “She would tell me, I hope. I’d encourage her. I want her to choose for herself — what she wants to do with her life, not what I want her to do.”

On the absence of #MeToo in Bollywood, the feisty actress said she would like not just the film industry but all avenues to adopt the movement. “It’s something that needs to be adopted in every industry. It’s not the problem of one industry. It’s just that Bollywood is in the spotlight that it is expected to speak up. But what happens after you stand up and say that (you faced sexual harassment)? We also need a backup mechanism. You don’t need to feel ashamed for the behaviour you are subjected to. But #MeToo can’t be restricted to Bollywood, not just one section of the society.”

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