On Saturday afternoon, I was on the way to Hauz Khas Village to meet a friend, when my phone buzzed with a notification. “Dharmendra Pradhan resigns” read the Indian Express app alert on my lock screen. I shot a quick text to my friend: “Change of plans. Meet me at Jantar Mantar instead” and requested my auto driver to make a detour to the protest site.
Half an hour later, while making my way through a sea of protesters dancing with joy—their ecstatic shouts reaching all the way to Kerala House—I came across a couple from Gurgaon who had made the long journey to join the celebration. “We heard the news and decided to show up. Not just for us, but for our little one,” Shivani pointed to their toddler, Rudranil, in her husband Deb’s lap.
As parents, the MNC professionals believe it is their duty to support their child. “We’ve been through the system, and we know how difficult it becomes after a point. It gets unfair at times. This seems like a small victory, and we’ve come to play a very small part in this movement,” Deb told indianexpress.com.
Shivani highlighted how generational differences in parenting styles had clipped their wings once, but things have changed over the years. Now, they wish to lead by example.
“As millennials, our generation was stopped and monitored throughout our lifetime, and we don’t want to do that to the next generation. We want to give them the freedom to make their own choices,” she stressed.
CJP Protest at Jantar Mantar, Delhi. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)
Dr Rimpa Sarkar, clinical psychologist at founder of Sentier Wellness echoes their sentiment, sharing why parental support is one of the strongest protective factors in a child’s emotional development.
“When children know that their parents stand by them, especially during moments when they are expressing themselves or standing up for something they believe in, it reinforces a deep sense of psychological safety. And that security becomes the foundation for confidence, resilience, and the courage to explore the world without constantly fearing rejection or failure,” she tells indianexpress.com.
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‘To be on the right side of history’
And that is exactly why S K Chaudhary, a resident of Delhi, showed up with his young daughter in tow. During our quick chat, the man shared his disillusionment with the country’s “broken education system”, explaining how bringing his child to the protest would be a core memory for her once she grows up.
She might not remember any of this, but one day when she is older and asks about this protest, he will be able to tell her that “he was on the right side of history”, doing “everything he could to better her future”.
“As a parent, we are the first people kids look to for guidance. If we don’t show up for their future, who will?” Chaudhary’s words stayed with me as I walked on.
As the celebrations continued on Janpath Road, an elated father, carrying an infant in his arms, distributed a box of motichur laddoos among the crowd. But before I could get hold of him for a quick chat, he was swept away by a wave of protesters.
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I could see my own parents in a lot of these young couples, braving the oppressive July heat with no signs of frustration on their faces.
When RG Kar protests over the rape-murder of a doctor took over the streets of Kolkata two years ago, my folks had made it a point to attend as many candle marches as they could. While driving to their first midnight sit-in protest at Jadavpur, my mother had told me over video call: “We wish you were here with us right now. But till you’re not, we will do our best to show up in your stead.”
Dr Sarkar believes that children experiencing this kind of unconditional emotional support are more likely to develop healthy self-esteem, trust their own judgment, express themselves authentically, and recover more effectively from setbacks. And I have to agree wholeheartedly.
In the bigger scheme of things, attending a protest might seem like a simple gesture. But I knew my parents had worked the entire day, and still made it halfway across town to stand in solidarity with the grieving and agitated crowd.
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It meant so much to me. It made me feel like I could conquer the world with their backing.
Growing up, this secure foundation translates into greater independence, Dr Sarkar explains, because children carry with them the confidence that they have a safe place to return to, no matter what. Maybe that is why I did not have to hide from my parents that I had been regularly visiting Jantar Mantar these last few days. Somewhere deep down, I felt their trust and support like a shield behind my back.
Crowds gather in solidarity of those on hunger strike. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
Walking a few paces ahead, I found Anuradha from Patel Nagar sitting on the pavement, resting after a long day of protesting on her feet. “This is my first protest,” she told me, a proud smile on her face. And as a mother to two boys, she felt it was crucial to show up and “stand in solidarity with the kids fighting for their rights”.
Protests, in our country, are not the safest place for a child to be in, she said, and leaving her pre-teen kids at home was not an easy task for her. But she was worried about their safety. “They really wanted to come to Jantar Mantar. But once I saw the videos of lathicharge and tear gas shelling, I decided it was not safe and forbade them”.
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Supportive parenting does not always mean agreeing with every decision a child makes, Dr Sarkar says, and sometimes, that means communicating, ‘I may not always agree with you, but I will stand by you as you navigate life’s challenges’. And Anuradha’s presence among a sea of young protesters was a quiet move in that direction.
What stayed with me
As I headed towards the Janpath metro station, I found Dhvani Kabir and her husband enjoying a quick snack break. Coming all the way from Rajasthan to attend their first protest, the couple spoke about their frustration with the state of the education system in the country “in light of the paper leak and the tragic lives lost”, and how deeply they felt for the parents who lost their children. “We don’t want any parent to be in such a situation ever again,” Kabir said.
On my way back home, Kabir’s parting words stayed with me for a long time: “It is incredibly important to fight for your rights. If you don’t get something easily in life, you have to put in effort and work hard for it. And eventually, that always pays off.”
As the metro pulled away from the heart of Delhi, it sank in that the day’s biggest victory was not just the minister’s resignation. For a few days, Jantar Mantar had turned into a classroom, and I witnessed some real-life lessons on true citizenship.
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I saw parents standing shoulder to shoulder with strangers, holding their kids in one hand and lifting up placards in another. And this time, they were not just preparing their children for the world. For a change, they were preparing the world for their children.
DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to.
