'I TELL MY KIDS IT'S OKAY TO FAIL'
Ronit Bose Roy says no topic is taboo in his house
Being a father is the core of my existence. I have been through good, bad and worse times in life, but since my kids were born, all my decisions have been taken keeping them in mind,” says actor Ronit Bose Roy, father of two. He believes being a parent is not just about loving, guiding and educating your child but also means “to take the pain and spare them any”. This Father’s Day, Roy tells us that he talks to his children about positivity and being strong amid hardships.
“I am teaching my kids to be kind, compassionate and be good humans. I tell them it is okay to fail, and that you may win or lose, but keep on moving. I tell them every fight is not theirs to fight and the result isn’t important, but the reason to fight has to be right. It can’t be due to ego or anger... It should be a positive reason instead, such as standing up for someone or correcting something,” the Hostages actor says, adding, “My daughter, Aador, is 15 and my son, Agastya, is 12, and they have impressionable minds. As every stage of life brings a different set of issues, parental guidance is crucial in a child’s life.”
Roy also teaches his kids about “entitlement, money, poverty, compassion, anxiety, and being kind”. The 54-yearold reveals that he had a frank chat with them about mental health after the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Revealing that a couple of years ago, his daughter “went through anxiety for six months”, Roy shares, “We discuss issues such as mental health, goodness of the soul, greed, and the fear people feel. Thankfully, they are intelligent and understand the evils of social media. We also talk about money and how much is spent on them. They know that not many are blessed like them. No topic is taboo in our house and we talk about all current events... I need to know what they think as their take might be different from mine. I have learnt a lot in life, but they are in a different space, so we learn from each other.”
He adds that there is no pressure on his children to be “a doctor or an engineer”; they will be what they want to be. “They aren’t sure what they want in life, and that’s perfectly fine by me,” Roy says.