Sonali Bendre: Parents should use Vedic teaching

Actress Sonali Bendre has said that passing on values to children is not just the duty of schools, and that parents should use ancient Vedic teachings at home.

“We cannot put all the onus onto schools. What are the parents doing? There has to be some responsibilities that parents have to take. It is not that you send your children to the factory and the final product comes out — that’s not going to happen,” Bendre said.

The 40-year-old actress, who released her book The Modern Gurukul - My Experiments With Parenting, says that with nuclear families becoming more prevalent, children are losing their connection to the culture that came from joint families.

“In the gurukul system [type of residential school] there was a holistic approach to imparting education. The holistic way of upbringing was not just to impart education but also the concept of dharma [moral principle] as enunciated in Vedic literature.

“In our joint family system, that space was filled by grandparents, but we are now moving more and more to a nuclear family. So... parents have to take on the responsibility of imparting Vedic teachings at [home],” Bendre added.

Bendre said parents should not control or restrict kids, but encourage them in what they are good at. “I think I have never controlled him [son Ranveer] and I hope not to ever control my child. I really want my child to think for himself,” he said.

Bendre said she never expected to become an author but is happy that the book ultimately came about.