I had enough on my hands, so I never intended or thought we should have a child of our own. But my wife said, at least one. I said, okay. One, only one. So that happened, and from the age of – when she was an infant, three, three and a half months of age – I drove across South India with her strapped to my front seat of the car. Me driving along, just my one hand here, one eye on the steering wheel. This was the time we were building Isha Foundation. So, I traveled extensively. And she was traveling with me when she was three and a half months old infant.
First four years she grew up in the car with me
So first four years she grew up in the car with me. And in many people’s homes. So, she met thousands of people, and she learned how to become a part of any home, anywhere. Whether it’s the most affluent home in the world or, you know, a tribal home. Just about anywhere I stayed, I made sure that she was exposed to everything. I didn’t want her to develop prejudices or privileges of, you know, choices of where to be and where not to be.
By the time she was three years of age, she at least knew a thousand people by name
And by the time she was three years of age, she at least knew a thousand people by name. Whom she considered her friends. Definitely not of her age. All grown up people. So the tremendous exposure to people – and I thought I won’t send her to school, because I never liked to go to school when I was young. So I thought, why should I put her through something. Then the only thing I could not provide her is children of her own age. So I put her to a school which is not so competitive, not so pushy.
I put her to a school which is not so competitive, not so pushy
So I looked for a school which was started by J. Krishnamurti, and I put her there so that it’s easy on her. And I said, further you go easy on my girl. Because I don’t want – I’m not going to look at a report card. I’m not going to ask which rank you are. I’m not going to ask what are you going to become. So don’t have to bother about her marks, her academics. If she plays, if she eats well, I’m happy. She’s growing up, she must eat well. If she plays well, if she laughs, if she sings, if she dances, I’m fine.
So I particularly requested the principal of the school – don’t worry about my girl’s education. I just want her to be with children of her age group. She eats well, just make sure she eats well – that’s my only concern. She eats well, she’s playing, she’s laughing, she’s jumping, and dancing, I’m fine with this.
When she became 15 and cleared her 10th standard, I took her out of formal education
So when she became 15 and cleared her 10th standard, I took her out of formal education. And because it was her mother’s dream and the girl also was very interested, I put her into dancing and she went into bharatanatyam, and now she’s one of the upcoming artists in the country.
