How To Be A Better Parent

In their latest book, This Book Won't Teach You Parenting, authors Riri G Trivedi and Anagha Nagpal discuss problems parents today face—from digital addiction to dealing with their children's sexual trauma

- AKASH CHATTERJEE

In a country like India, parenting is a complex enterprise. A new book, This Book Won't Teach You Parenting: But It Will Make You a Better Parent (Penguin), by psychotherapist Riri G Trivedi and educator and parental coach Anagha Nagpal, highlights how misguided parenting leaves deep scars in children and how they can be worked out so that children can have a safe and secure childhood.

"I wanted to address the problems in two ways," says Trivedi. "My experience of working with grown-ups suggests that most of our mental health issues, like anxiety, trauma, fear, and insecurity, have an origin, and that origin lies in the problems that we face mostly in our childhood. Secondly, I believe that nearly 95 per cent of parents do not abuse their children intentionally, but because they don't have the right tools to discipline. The main objective of the book is to tell them that they need to correct themselves in terms of behaving with their children."