Komal Panchal, a TV actress who wants a ‘superchild’

Ahmedabad, Nov. 2: In their craze to have “brilliant” children, parents are now ready to start training them in the womb, right from the day of conception.

The technique for educating the foetus is being offered by a physics teacher turned “Maharshi”, who draws on the story of Abhimanyu in the Mahabharat and whose claims have been dismissed by scientists The Telegraph spoke to.

However, the young and upper-middle-class parents who flock to Maharshi Prahlad Patel, 67, are happy that he promises to fulfil their dreams of an exceptionally gifted offspring. In Patel’s lexicon, a “superchild”.

Sociologist Gaurang Jani said the concept was dangerous. “It is dangerous because Patel is using the idea to rationalise the mindset of the upper middle classes who want a superchild — no place for the less talented.”

Patel prefers to enrol newly married couples at his “Superchild University” in Gandhinagar’s Amarnath Dham locality, an institute that he freely admits is not recognised as a university by any government authority.

The young couples can stay here for a week, do yoga and learn exactly what thoughts the mother must think during pregnancy and what she must read, so that the foetus absorbs it all from her and be born as a “superchild”.

“At the institute we were trained and taught how to think, what to think, how to eat and drink because all these things determine how our child is going to be,” said leading Gujarati film and TV actress Komal Panchal, 22.

Komal and husband Dharmesh Jhala, 24, were among the first batch of 11 couples who completed their seven-day course at the newly opened centre just before Diwali, paying Rs 1,100 per couple apart from the food bills. Already the fee has been revised to Rs 5,000 per couple.

“Until I met Prahlad Patel, I didn’t know it was possible to get the child I have been visualising. I want an intelligent child whom I want to groom as actor-singer,” said the actress who conceived during her stay on the “campus”.

Patel, who claims his title of Maharshi was conferred on him by yoga guru Baba Ramdev, cites how Abhimanyu had learnt the secret of penetrating the chakravyuh battle formation from his mother’s womb while his father Arjun was explaining it to her.

Foetal medicine experts said there was no scientific evidence to suggest any regimen pursued by pregnant women could lead to children with exceptional intelligence or desirable qualities.

“Foetuses can detect and respond to acoustic stimuli such as the mother’s heartbeat or loud sounds. But there’s no scientific basis to claims that certain activities can lead to superior babies,” said Dilip Walke, chairman of the ethics panel of the Federation of the Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India.

Sociologist Jani cited the way television, especially reality shows, had spawned a hunger for publicity among the middle classes, with pushy parents often seeking their 15 minutes of fame through their children whom they drive to the edge with their ambition. Many urban children are buried under a stifling burden of private tuition, dance lessons, cricket coaching and the like apart from regular school.

Three years ago, a four-year-old working-class child in Orissa, Budhia Singh, was made to run a 65km “marathon” before TV cameras till he collapsed in the summer heat.

“Of course, parents want a superchild also because they fear their child will have to face a far more competitive world than they did,” Jani said.

At the institute, the day begins with a yoga session at 6.30am. After breakfast, the couples attend a two-hour class and another in the evening. The rest of the day, they read and meditate.

The “syllabus” includes lectures, films and slide presentations on the “psychological and physical aspects” of conception.

“I teach an amalgam of psychological, spiritual and scientific aspects of conception. Our ancient wisdom suggests education has to begin before birth,” said Patel, who claims to have “synthesised ancient wisdom and spirituality with psychology and modern science”.

He has written a book, Superchild, and describes his work as suprajanan shastra —the science of conceiving a superchild. He plans a “super baby institute” that will teach superchildren.

Patel, who also runs the Vishwa Kalyan Sanstha, a charitable organisation, does not award any degree or diploma but sources said the UGC could still act against him for calling his centre a university if a complaint was lodged.

The “Maharshi” is the sole teacher at the institute, where couples have to enrol together. So far, only well-to-do Hindus have enrolled.

Actress Komal is religiously practising what Patel told her and plans to return to the institute in the near future.

Business executive Sanjay Nagar and wife Anjana, both 28, too have done the “course”. Sanjay said: “We now understand the importance of our thoughts, which can impact our child whom we want to be extraordinary.”