I don’t love it, but my parents want me to concentrate on it || Acharya Prashant, at IIT-D (2023)

Questioner (Q): If my parents tell me to concentrate on my studies but I fail to do so, does it mean that I don’t find it worth concentrating on or interesting enough?

Acharya Prashant (AP): The question that I must first of all address is, why must a twenty-two or twenty-five-year-old quote his parents when it comes to asking a question? That’s the fundamental problem. Sir, love and parental instruction do not sit very well together. Don’t you see that? What you are saying is analogous to saying, “My parents want me to get married to someone. How do I concentrate on her?” These two things don’t go well.

Also, parents, if they have raised the kid well, should realize that beyond a point it is counterproductive to offer advice. The success of the parents lies in leaving the son or the daughter free after a point. If the kid has to be dependent on the parents mentally or financially even at twenty-two or twenty-five or twenty-eight, then the parents have failed, have they not?

So, you must know… You are a postgraduate student, are you?

Q: I am an undergraduate student.

AP: So, you must know. You are in college. What is it that is worth doing in life? You must know which course you must enroll in, and beyond the campus you must know what is it that really will make you come alive. Higher education, consultancy, a job in your core area—you must know all these things.