Archana Puran Singh and her husband Parmeet Sethi have often opened up about how their son Aaryamann Sethi went through a period of depression at the age of 13. He had a serious leg injury, which finished his football career. In a recent interview, Parmeet spoke at length about his son’s past mental health state during his teen days. He also opened up about making their sons Aaryamann and Ayushmaan fly economy and keeping them grounded, despite belonging to a privileged family.
During a conversation with Pinkvilla, he said, “We as a family are very hands-on, very close. The fact that we live in Madh Island… it is a place where you don’t go out much. We are mostly at home, everyone talks to each other, so there is a little more extra closeness that all of us have as a family. Whenever something happens, we talk it out, we advise and try to pull up the other person, that has always been an endeavour.”
Recalling the unfortunate incident of his leg injury, the actor shared, “So, when Aaryamann was going through… he played football for India, he was in England playing football for Queen Spark Rangers. He was going to be the first boy to play in the English Premier League. It was a huge deal, he was so good at it. But, life! His leg broke, so we brought him back to India, and got the rehabilitation process done for recovery. Before sending him back after two months, he wanted to play a practice match between Maharashtra and Gujarat, he was the captain of our state.”
He continued, “When he went, in the first 20 second of the match itself, somebody charged at him and broke his leg again. So, his leg broke twice and the second time was more severe. It was just not a fracture, a rod had to be inserted. His entire one year was wasted. In one year, many things change in kids – your speed, growth, etc. You are treated like a horse there. After his injury, they said that he won’t be able to reach the same level as other boys now. So, he had to let go off that dream and come back.”
Aaryamann went in depression at that time and he gradually came out of it. “He was a kid, riding on a high and then suddenly came back to earth, thinking, ‘What shall I do with my life now?’ It was a horrible phase. But, hats off to him that he got out of it. He got into music which gave salve to his soul. Then slowly, he started saying that he can give a shot at acting, so he went to New York to learn acting. He is a very good actor. Slowly, he got out of it and now he has come into his own, he is happy and doing great,” Parmeet elaborated.
When asked about making their kids travel in the economy class of a plane while they themselves take the business coach, he expressed that it was his and Archana’s conscious choice as parents. “We have consciously practiced it. Paise bhi bachte hain,” he joked, and added, “Jokes apart, it is always better to give them something lesser than what they want because there should be some hunger left. Usually, you see that the people who come from middle class and lower middle class backgrounds, they have that thrive in them to do something. We cannot manufacture that for them. They should have an idea in life that there are some things they have to earn on their own.”
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“They shouldn’t feel that they are born in this family and will get everything in a plate now. This doesn’t happen and shouldn’t happen like this. We gave them less, I still feel that we should have given lesser, but Archana is an indulgent mother. I come from a middle class family, I know the value of money and achieving something. We have tried to keep them as humble and close to earth as much as possible,” Parmeet Sethi concluded.
