Abhishek Bachchan shares how parenting has brought new dimensions to his life

Abhishek Bachchan has, on several occasions, spoken at length about how his life, belief systems and perspectives have evolved after the birth of his daughter, Aaradhya Bachchan. Once again, he opened up about how watching her grow up and parenting her has brought new dimensions to his life. The actor shared that her constant questioning has led to realisations he didn’t even know he was seeking.

In a recent conversation with Lilly Singh, Abhishek recalled an anecdote from Aaradhya Bachchan’s early years, one that has stayed with him ever since. “We were watching TV when she was a kid and I was being tortured by Peppa Pig. I said, ‘Hey, Aaradhya…’ You know how kids are; they’re like zombies. I said, ‘Aaradhya, can you just get Papa a glass of water?’ She looked at me like, ‘What?’ I said, ‘Can you give me a glass of water?’ She said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘Because I asked you to’. It’s normal, right? I’m the dad, get me a glass of water. She got up, went and got me a glass of water very sweetly. I said, ‘Thank you’ gave her a kiss and she sat down.”

Abhishek went on to explain how the situation took a turn shortly after. “Half an hour later, she says ‘Papa?’ I said ‘Yes?’ She asked, ‘Can you give me a glass of water?’ And I’m like, ‘Go get it yourself’. She said, ‘Why? If you can ask me, why can’t I ask you?’ I had no answer to that. And I was like, ‘She’s right’. I mean, I can’t pull rank on her. She’s right. If she can get me a glass of water, why can’t I get it for her? And I never butted heads with her after that. It’s very logical.”

Speaking further about parenting, Abhishek Bachchan shared that neither he nor his wife, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, believed in rigid parental roles. “In my home, as parents, both of us try to be the best example for Aaradhya instead of telling her what is right and what is wrong. We believe in showing what to do by being that ourselves. It’s never been like, ‘Okay, I’ll teach her self-defence’. If you’ve seen my wife, she can take care of herself. It’s never been divided like, ‘I’ll teach her self-defence. You teach her to be empathetic’. No, it’s not that.”

Elaborating on this approach, he added, “It’s simply about leading a good, responsible life with your values and morals. Your child sees that, emulates it and in that way, you’ve equipped them. So, there’s no competition at home about who has to be the man or who has to be the woman. When it comes to children, we both believe you have to lead by example, not try to teach them what is right and wrong. Because what’s right for us might not be right for them. Generations change. Our world is very different and our children’s world is going to be even more different.”