![\"R](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-131042689,imgsize-49180,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/madhavan-vedaant-2.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nR Madhavan has frequently spoken about raising his son Vedaant Madhavan with grounded values despite fame and privilege. The ‘Dhurandhar’ actor’s son is a swimmer, who has represented India at several global platforms, won medals and has the ultimate goal of winning at the Olympics for our country. During a recent conversation, the actor reflected on modern parenting habits and the pressures many families face today.Talking about the growing culture of extravagance surrounding children, Madhavan had said in an earlier interview with Radhika Gupta on the YouTube channel 100 Year Life Project by ACKO, \u201cWhat I\u2019m seeing now is some of my friends\u2019 kids go to international schools, and I think their kids in LKG are paying more fees than I did for my entire engineering, which is actually a fact.\u201d He further added, \u201cThey are people who spent a fortune on the first birthday of their child. It is such a big deal. Almost, I think I didn\u2019t spend as much on my marriage as they did on the first birthday of a child. And I\u2019m sure, God bless them for having the money to do that, but I\u2019m just saying, it\u2019s all these events. And, it\u2019s not just for the child. The child probably doesn\u2019t even realise.\u201dThe actor also pointed out how social expectations surrounding birthday parties and return gifts have become stressful for parents. He explained, \u201cI know a lot of parents who are so conscious about the fact that they have to give return gifts, that they sometimes avoid going to birthday parties because they can\u2019t avoid it. You know, they are like, \u2018We will have to call them for our birthday.\u2019 And they say, you know, the child is busy or unwell or, you know, we have to travel someplace, because it\u2019s really such a responsibility to keep track of what they gave you as a return gift and what you have to give back.\u201dSpeaking about the values he consciously tried to instill in Vedaant, Madhavan added that the importance of gratitude and awareness of privilege. He shared, \u201cI realised there are two things I needed to tell Vedaant. One is this attitude of gratitude, which is very, very important for them to know: that they are privileged because of somebody else\u2019s work, that has helped get you this. And therefore, sometimes just telling him the salary of my cook, saying, \u2018Hey, you know what? What a pair of shoes that have been gifted to you cost this much and this man has to work an entire year, living in that kitchen, to earn enough to afford a bit of that.\u2019\u201dThe actor further revealed that teaching respect towards everyone, irrespective of profession or social standing, was equally important to him. He said, \u201cThe second thing I made sure that Vedaant did was to acknowledge, maybe not as much as my friends, but most certainly acknowledge the liftman, the guard, the drivers, you know, and not call them aayas and stuff like that. Call them didis instead. And I made sure that if the watchman came and said, \u2018You are a very polite child, he always says namaste to me,\u2019 I thought my job was well done.\u201dMadhavan also remembered a parenting lesson he learned while living in Canada during his younger years. Recalling his interaction with a family whose children were well-behaved despite growing up in a difficult environment, he shared, \u201cI lived in a town in Canada, which was pretty wild for those times because, you know, teenage pregnancy was rampant over there, and drugs and alcohol were part of that town, I found one family that I stayed with whose children were absolutely normal as can be, very well brought up, not into any of these issues. And so I happened to ask the lady of the household many years later, I said, \u2018How did you manage to do this?\u2019\u201dHe then revealed the advice that deeply influenced his own parenting style. \u201cAnd she gave me an advice which I followed to the heart, and it really worked for my son. And she said, \u2018Don\u2019t give your child free time.\u2019 She said, \u2018You know, indulge him or her in whatever they want to do, as long as they\u2019re doing it with passion. The interests will change, the level of commitment will change, but make sure that they don\u2019t have free time till they\u2019re 15\u201316 years old. Make it a habit to make sure they go from one activity to the other. And it could be fun. It should be fun. It shouldn\u2019t be a chore, the child is going to hate it.\u2019\u201dElaborating further, the actor added, \u201cBut if he wants to play basketball and tennis and golf, and wants to play kabaddi and spend time with seven kids and learn how to make dough, whatever, just make sure that his or her time is filled. That doesn\u2019t give them time to dwell on things that they shouldn\u2019t at that age.\u201dMadhavan married Sarita Birje in 1999. Their son Vedaant, born in 2005. <\/div>\n