A mother is a child’s first teacher, and a lifelong learner from her child too! Swim moms of India’s leading competitive swimmers share the most important lesson they have taught their child, and the one lesson they have learnt from him or her.
Aanal, Swim Mom of Maana Patel
“When Maana was going through the first major injury of her career, she couldn’t handle herself well. She was mentally very disturbed and had almost given up. She just wanted to retire from swimming. I had never pushed her or forced her to swim, but this was the first time I did so, and I didn’t allow her to hang her suit . I insisted Maana to continue with the rehab and swim a good race and then end her career on a high. I explained to her that all these hurdles and difficulties that she was facing were too small compared to what life had to offer her. If you give up now you’ll form a habit of it and will never be able to face any other difficult situation in life ahead of you . And now that’s exactly what she’s doing. Facing all the problems with courage and a smile on her face.
Maana is a very punctual and disciplined person. She is always on time for her workouts in any season. She has balanced her academics with swimming right from school till college. So watching her do each and every task of swimming and studies with so much determination always keeps me on my toes and motivates me to perform all the duties as a mother to aid her and help her become a better person.
Kalyani, Swim mom of Srihari Nataraj
One thing Srihari has learnt from me is sharing his knowledge about the sport with anyone who approaches him for guidance.
One thing I have learnt and appreciated in him is the deep passion that he carries for the sport.
Monica, Swim Mom of Astha Choudhury
Astha is a child who is giving all her effort, dedication and patience to swimming. She is too caring towards her family, including me. I must say, from her I am learning to be calm and to have patience whenever I am in trouble.
Nanda, Swim Mom of Advait Page
Something that I have always taught Advait is to be sincere with the work that he’s doing and to always value the efforts of others who have helped him in his journey. It makes me happy and proud to see him living it everyday.
Being a sportsperson since the age of 6, Advait has taught me valuable lessons that he exhibited at a very young age. He taught me to face situations with patience and grit especially when the going is tough. What makes these lessons from him special is that he learnt these through his journey, as he had to wait for years to make it to the podiums at national and international meets.
Pradeepti, Swim mom of Kenisha Gupta
My kids and I are very different. But the one thing I know they’ve learnt from me is consistency: the ability to just keep at the same task every single day.
I’ve learnt a lot from both my children. Kenisha has the ability to turn a blind eye to all the unnecessary things. I used to panic, get anxious about having to complete certain tasks; she has helped me understand what is important and what isn’t. She has helped me understand what can be controlled and what simply cannot. Arjunveer has taught me how to smile through everything. He has taught me to be optimistic. Both of them have helped me walk with the times and let everything flow.
Prema, Swim mom of S M Likith
I have taught my son to chase his passion, not money and I can strongly say he has learnt that well.
I have learnt a lot from my son – about swimming, the world of sports and the value of time.
Sarita, Swim mom of Vedant Madhavan
The one thing that I have taught my child related to swimming and I see him living it is discipline. It is amazing to see his discipline in his food habits, his sleeping habits, him waking up every morning at 4:30 am with dedication.
One thing that he has taught me is that to achieve a certain goal you have to do certain sacrifices. In his case, he has sacrificed his times with friends when they are having birthday parties while he is doing his evening swimming lessons which he can’t miss, or when the friends are planning movies or games and he is sleeping early, or he’s eating sensibly while eating out because he has an early morning swim or he has a meet coming up. He has taught me to have a strong mind which he has.
Shalet, Swim mom of Apeksha Fernandes
I have asked her to remain humble in victory and graceful in defeat which she does. That is one of her greatest strengths. Her humility is endearing.
Apeksha has taught me not to ponder over the past. Learn from it. Shake it and move on. That is one of her strengths.