When Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar requested the media to leave his son Arjun alone and allow him to play cricket without any pressure, it opened a case of sons of famous fathers being the cynosure of all eyes just because of their genes.
While some get burdened due to the unrealistic expectations of measuring up to their highly successful fathers, others exceed the expectations and create another benchmark for their own sons or relatives to follow.
In the case of Amarnath family, son Mohinder Amarnath, part of the winning World Cup campaign in 1983, exceeded his father Lala Amarnath’s performances on the field and carved his own name in Indian cricket.
Now, Digvijay Amarnath, nephew of Mohinder Amarnath and grandson of Lala Amarnath, has made foray into cricket. Digvijay made his first-class debut in Sri Lanka in April, and media attention will be back on him when he next plays a competitive match.
However, some sons succumb to constant scrutiny from friends and relatives just because they carry the famous surname.
In the case of John Bradman, son of Australian great Don Bradman, his family name proved a burden for him and he changed his last name to Bradsen. Some reports even claim it even strained the relationship between the father and son.
And in some situations, the sons chose a different career altogether to avoid the unnecessary comparisons. Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, whose father and grandfather were legendary cricketers for India, had said that he made the right decision by choosing films over sport.
However, during the initial years as an actor, Saif was compared to his mother and former Bollywood actress, Sharmila Tagore.
So, does being sons or daughters of successful parents create undue pressure? It all depends on how one handles the pressure. Abhishek Bachchan, who still now gets compared with his legendary father and superstar Amitabh Bachchan, admitted in an interview that he has no pressure at all.
He was quoted as saying, “I think the media feels the pressure more than I do. I never think about it and I am immensely proud of being my father's son.”
In Indian culture, it’s almost considered a norm for son to follow their father’s steps rather than chasing their own aspirations, dreams and wishes. So, a businessman’s son runs his dad’s empire, while a doctor, engineer’s son becomes academically inclined.
But these rigid practices look set to be broken and kids eye careers that match their interest, passion and talent. Former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman, born to doctor parents, had even enrolled as a medical student, but chose to follow his heart. Medicine's loss was cricket's gain.
If Laxman had not chosen cricket over medicine, then Indian cricket would probably have never witnessed the brilliant Test win against Australia in 2001 and the numerous victories that VVS guided India through.
Coming to Sachin’s son Arjun, it would probably do a world of good for the young cricketer to be left alone and allowed to find his foothold in Indian cricket than being put under undue pressure by the media and fans alike.
Meanwhile, Arjun should just concentrate on playing good cricket and make his bat do the talking like how his father has silenced his critics over the years.