Imagination Under Pressure: A Discussion on Children and Modern Upbringing : Parag Biswas
- Parag Biswas
- 5 minutes ago
- 5 min read
When asked which class they read in, almost nine out of ten children will tell you that they would very soon go to a class higher than the one they are currently studying in. It goes to show that children always want to grow up very quickly and look forward to the prospect of becoming young adults with great excitement.
In this excitement, their imaginations run free and they often have grand visions of their future, picturing themselves in their dream jobs or at towering heights in their lives.
But as the distinguished speakers at a panel discussion organized by the Big I Art Foundation at the 43rd North Bengal Book Fair 2025 in the Kanchenjungha stadium at Siliguri in West Bengal on December 12, 2025, observed, most children nowadays are losing the power of imagination due to various external pressures on them.
Kicking off the discussion on the topic, “Children Are Losing Their Childhood Dreams,” eminent educationist, journalist, filmmaker and social activist, Parag Biswas, dwelt at length on the various reasons why the dreams of children are dying an early death and why the new generation has become so crestfallen, nonchalant and despondent. “Improvement in per capita income, an increasing lust for consumerism, strained parental relationships, the burgeoning predominance of nuclear families, lack of role models and a desire to fulfill one’s unrealized childhood dreams through their own kids are ruining the future of our coming generations.
Most parents and guardians pamper their children so much these days that they become spoon-fed puppets, who pass out from top alma maters in the country, with several degrees and vast knowledge, but scanty skills. They have to consequently face immense difficulties in dealing with life. They fail and falter, cannot bear the responsibilities of marriage and of rearing kids and cannot also meet the challenges and demands of their profession. Their marriages end in separation or divorce, and they get no satisfaction at their workplaces. Finally, many of them are compelled to commit suicides,” said the renowned motivational speaker, who urged parents and guardians to give their children the guidance and grooming that will make them a perfect human being.
Noted columnist and theatre personality Partha Pratim Mitra, who agreed with Biswas, said that the increasing frustration among the new generation was largely attributable to the increasing lust for consumerism, which was a definitive outcome of the race for a rapid globalization since the start of this century. “It is a pity that children these days are suffering from many psychological and physical ailments, which were common, till recently, among aged adults. Parental and familial conflicts and a penchant for all that is occidental in origin, including fast food, are killing the future of our children. It is high time that we stopped teaching children with electronic aids and began using the primitive way of imparting knowledge and imbibing morals in them through the art of storytelling,” he advised.
The renowned psychological counselor and behavior manager of north Bengal, Moitrye Sen, who shared the sentiments of both Biswas and Mitra, felt that a lack of patience among today’s parents and guardians was spoiling the future of their children. “People these days prefer to bring up their children using short-cut methods as they do not have the time and patience to bear the hassles of rearing kids. And that is why, they give their children their mobile phones, whenever they disturb their parents, without realizing in the least that it was killing the power of imagination in their kids and their ability to do an activity properly,” said the senior psychologist, who urged parents and guardians not to allow their children to use electronic gadgets abundantly and indiscriminately.
The next panelist Mr Samsul Alam, a senior educationist and Headmaster of Muraliganj High School in the Darjeeling district, cautioned people against the rat race of success. “The relentless pursuit for success in life is putting a mammoth pressure on our kids. They are badly reeling under the demands of their parents and teachers, and they very often, feel badly suffocated under the persistent pressure to do the best in their lives. Even while they are playing, it is always at the back of their minds that their parents may soon call them back to their homes and ask them to sit and study for more hours in order to achieve higher grades. It is a pity that due to such cut-throat competition, children have stopped asking questions and are not learning to live in harmony with each other,” lamented the senior academician, who advised that parents should encourage the innate instinct of inquisitiveness in their children and should generate awareness in them about the need to live together and help each other.
The famous writer and journalist of Bengal, Alok Sarkar, who spoke next, emphasized the role of literature in shaping the future of children and boosting their imaginative faculty. “I grew up under the able guidance and tutelage of the elders in my family. My love for the moon and the nature was enhanced as much by the stories told to me by my grandma during my childhood as much as by the immortal creations of literature such as Jatindramohan Bagchi’s great poem, ‘Kajla Didi’ (Elder Sister) and the poems of the great Indian poet Sukanta Bhattacharya. It is a pity that the children these days are missing that childhood,” Sarkar regretted.
The two visual artists present at the discussion, Rathindranath Saha and Shiben Chattopaddhyay, claimed that “imagination” was fast taking a backseat in the field of art. “Almost no aspiring painter is able to draw a picture from their imagination nowadays. If you ask a kid to draw a landscape they will draw a picture, which their art teacher has taught them to draw and which they have practiced several times. During our school days, we used to draw pictures of our choice at sit-and-draw competitions. Nowadays, the organizers themselves assign a topic to the contestants. And that is why perhaps we are no more getting any Jamini Roy, Nandalal Bose, Pablo Picasso or Leonardo Da Vinci these days,” they explained.
The secretary of a renowned welfare society in Siliguri, Mr Anindya Mukherjee highlighted the role of social welfare societies and non-governmental organizations in ensuring that people focus on the psychological needs of their kids.
Joy Sarkar, the programme head of a popular FM channel in Bengal and Sikkim, who begged to differ with the other speakers at the discussion, made a very pertinent point at the end. He refused to accept that children were losing their power of imagination and pointed out that the biggest danger lay in the fact that “good imagination” was getting supplanted with “bad imagination” in children.
The founder and secretary of the Big I Art Foundation, Dipayon Ghosh, who moderated the discussion, did a marvelous job.
The panelists were all awarded attractive certificates by the organizers at the end to acknowledge their participation in the discussion.
E.O.M.