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THE
way the grapevine goes, Miss Indias are always scoffed at as decorated
dolls who appear dressed whimsically for a body show and who disappear
from the celebrity scenario in time. Unless they become film and TV
stars or catwalk models. After her stint as a theatre actress and a model, Swaroop married character actor Paresh Raval and settled down to domesticity. She worked sporadically on TV, making serials, hosting countdown shows and she did plays like Shyam Rang. But unknown to India’s celebrity-hungry people, she majored in one area of life which poses the greatest single problem in the lives of young, upwardly-mobile modern parents. How to manage the upbringing of their children in this frenetic age of materialism. |
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Swaroop, a mother of two school -going boys, took a keen interest in their education and joined the parent teacher association of Mumbai’s Jamnabai Nursee School. Last year, she became the chairperson of the association and began to teach in the school and arrange leadership workshops for the prefects and class leaders of the higher standards. She started a group called Manavta, comprising two psychiatrists, two parents who are special educators and two school head-teachers to do yeoman service to the school children. She also took classes at the Nalanda School for Dyslexic Children in South Mumbai. After having gained substantial experience, she wrote out an extensive CV for herself and applied to universities in the UK for an opportunity to study her subject further. "To my great joy, several departments of a British University joined together to design a course for me titled ‘The Role of Drama in the Education of Mentally Handicapped Children’. I might even have an opportunity to do a doctorate in this subject. I am thrilled and will probably leave after my sons are through with their exams. They are in the sixth and fourth grades respectively. When I’m away, my father Bachubai Sampat, who has now retired from the Indian National Theatre , will look after the boys. He is so close to them that sometimes I think they prefer him to me. Paresh keeps very busy. So my father and he together will care for the house and children when I’m away." Swaroop feels that boys are always a handful and though somewhat sorry, she has accepted that she will have to forgo the pleasure of having a daughter. What problems do modern parents face in bringing up their children? Swaroop names the cardinal seven influences of the new age. «Children face more outside influences than home influences today. They are taken in by peer pressure, false status symbols, shopping sprees, a show of wealth and style and are far too media-driven in their aspirations and lifestyle . Parents are hard put to counter these new values pushed at them relentlessly by the marketplace. It is difficult to convince a child today that honesty is good when dishonesty seems to triumph everywhere. This is true of all values. «The emotional bond parents share with their children makes them give in to children’s obstinacy very often. Otherwise they constantly feel guilty of being ‘ruthless’ parents, who are heartless and do not understand the needs of today’s children. They also face pressure from their own peers . «Children get everything too easily today. They hanker after luxuries without hard work and parents are under constant pressure to give them whatever they want . It is hard to confront a social tidal wave. «The concept of "respect" has changed. Children take their parents as friends and often engage in verbal battles which create distress in the lives of parents. What was earlier called ‘back answering’, is called ‘debating’ today. Parents sometimes regret becoming ’friends’ rather than remaining ‘parents’. They wonder how they can exercise authority without being labelled ‘orthodox’ or ‘old-fashioned’. «The language which the young speak has changed. It is more arrogant, harsh to the ear, full of slang and sounds offensive from the parents’ point of view though it may just be the today-trend. «The thirst for randed goods —food, clothes, toys, study materials has galloped to an unprecedented level. Parents cannot often cope with these demands which seem to be more greed than need. «Metro media is bent on bringing a type of street culture into every home. The ads, the jingles, the visuals, the party pages, the minor celebrity worship — all these together make this street culture seem extremely attractive. All media, in every expression, seems to convey that he who markets successfully is the king. Money, as they say makes the mare go. This street culture expresses itself in clothes, language and most important, in the relationships which children have with the family. When you analyse the present situation, most parents would agree with me,"says Swaroop, who feels that because of these reasons, parenting has become a serious vocation today . However, as a career woman, she is making steady progress in spite of her motherly responsibilities. In recent months, she did All The Best for DD for some time. She acted in several episodes of Gubbare and participated in a stage play called Shyam Rang with Sachin Khedkar. "I’m now acting in a silent serial being made by Mukul Abhyankar . It’s a new concept. I’m also producing Khel a play in which Paresh and Nasseeruddin Shah will star. I’m going to Britain for my course soon. My plate is piled high at the moment. But I’m happy doing everything I do and that’s important to me!" |
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This perception is typical of an age when only
those who are visible in the media — particularly on the party
happening pages of newspapers and magazines — are considered members
of the ‘beautiful brigade’. Considering that there are just a few
papers and magazines and thousands of wonderful people doing fantastic
work, it is natural that many real celebrities are left out of the
limelight. A case in point is the lovely Swaroop Sampat-Raval, who was
not only Miss India 1978 and a star of the stage, TV and films, but also
a concerned mother and intrepid educator.