A Stitch in Time

No words can convey my frustration with something I am about to discuss. On a leading Hindi entertainment channel, a show has taken absurdity and nonsense to a whole new level. I am pointing towards a reality contest that requires children to show their acting prowess in order to bag roles in TV and movies. Children can be seen imitating adults, giving out precocious performances and displaying their dexterity in romantic acts. This needs to stop right now. I will honestly compare such things with a slow poison that, in marathon, renders the body hollow and devoid of vitality. I do not see actors and models in poor light but I am dead against the popular notion that being successful is being famous.

Such things, like a slow hammer, shift the orientation of children to the world of glamour and then fame becomes everything. Most starry-eyed reality-show contestants (mostly teens) come from middle class households. They can be commonly seen displaying insolence towards culture and education and are willing to stoop to obnoxious levels to gain small modeling and/or acting assignments. I think, anyone who has education and lives a debt free life with dignity is on a much higher pedestal. We must ensure that our compass of morality and thought must point in the right direction at all times, otherwise we all will be happily strolling towards our doom. As they say, a stitch in time saves nine.

Is it not akin to not taking required care of seeds in time and then fussing over shoddy crops?  

The Squirrel And The Bird!

On one huge tree, lush and wide

With leaves green, flowers white

And branches dancing in breeze

A tiny squirrel was at slight unease

As this was the third time this week

When she had peanuts for snack

Too bored, she ran to her shack

High upon the tree, on a bough

Next to the office of Mr. Crow

Who was also the Chairman

Of company ‘Jet Black Aviation’

He looked at her and gave a grin

To which she said a hello to him

And knocked at her round gate

Made totally out of walnut case

She went in and asked her mother

“Why peanuts for snack and supper?”

But momma squirrel was a bit busy

And that made the little one edgy

She again rushed outside in a jiffy

Before momma could solve her query

There she saw her buddy, the bird

Who was of the same age as her

Eating quietly her butter-popcorn

At her glanced the squirrel little

Both had fought over a matter trifle

Birdie teased one popcorn at her

And she threw her peanuts in anger

Old Rev. Sir Parrot when saw all that

Slowly flew down putting on his hat

He called both, squirrel and the bird

Adjusting his red necktie, said-

‘To share is friendship

A thing most precious

Have snacks together

To stay buddies forever!

A friend is a lovely thing

And is God’s blessing!’

He smiled at the squirrel and bird

And then went back to his work

The little squirrel and her friend

That day had their soreness end

After that they shared the meals

And always stayed best buddies!

Images from- here and here

Bits & Pieces 5

The Name Game

I have quite often come across children with strange names that look as if taken out of some ancient or pagan language. This trend, I feel, is on a steady rise- more and more parents, esp in the younger generation are naming their kids with all sorts of unique names that seem Greek to most of the people. An acquaintance of mine named her daughter ‘Aneiya’ just because she thought it looked different. Even though she was clueless about the meaning of this word, she was happy as it sounded ‘you know very mod types’, she told me with a grin. I have come across strange sounding names like ‘Czarina’, ‘Imariya’, ‘Kieryna’, ‘Amieria’ and the like. The desire to stand out of the crowd and to look different has led us to focus only on the style factor and ignore the meaning of the name that a child will carry all his/her life. Someone named his son ‘Shankit’ that means ‘always in doubt’ (shanka- doubt) and another one ‘Gorky’ after the famous Russian writer Maxim Gorky (of ‘Mother’ fame). This word ‘Gorky’ literally means ‘bitter’ in Russian and it was a pen name the author had adopted to support the Labor Movement in Russia. To make the matters worse, some celebs have given strange name to their children that are often copied by the public. Such names like ‘Apple’, ‘Majesty’ and many more rather can make you feel lucky and thankful to your parents! My name is a Sanskrit word that means ‘inscribed’. Thank you mummy!

Image-babypicpoint.com

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Data Display!

The worst display can be, I think, the display of knowledge. Nothing can be more annoying than a self-boisterous gadfly hell bent on making you feel like an illiterate fool. Then there are certain people whose personal life is entirely detached from all the spiritual things they keep talking about. They are, in their very hearts, deeply envious, greedy and insecure and are often in a ‘defensive mode’ that is not letting the other person point out any flaw in whatever they state. Always ready to argue over things as petty as a spelling, a name or anything and always pouring out whatever they know at any available instant, they end up making complete fools of themselves and gathering contempt of others. Also, in most of the cases, their ‘knowledge’ that is always on display (often out of context), is merely a collection of facts and figures crammed from newspaper and magazines with little thought and novelty of perspective. Socrates rightly said ‘the biggest knowledge is to know that you know nothing’ How true!

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A Pattern Surfaces

There is a chain that links a few things together and creates a pattern that is rather worrisome and ugly. Trends like-

• Steep rise in road rage incidents and
• In animal cruelty
• In sales of violent video games
• In sale of cheap and erotic literature
• In soft-pornish dating shows on TV
• In high divorce rates and
• In porn search on internet

Taken in a totality, it points out that we are achieving freedom but at the cost of mental stress and loneliness. Animal tendencies are rising and people now openly fight for paltry properties and gold, openly abuse teachers and elders and display their desperate urges as if flaunting a medal. This entire scenario cries out that we need to go back to our roots, spirituality and nature to balance technology with socialization and brotherhood. I think everything that goes up and reaches its peak is often destroyed of its own excess.

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Bond Not Bind!

In earlier days, children who were slightly open with their parents were the odd ones out. It was not very common to see a girl chatting openly with her father or a boy sharing the story of his first crush with his mother and most of the time, parents behaved just the way they were traditionally supposed to behave and thereby taking the gender and identity roles a tad bit too seriously. I remember my maternal grandmother once told me about how her father’s word was the law in the house and that she and her sisters avoided too much frank interaction (esp publicly) and behaved like typically ‘good and well mannered girls’. However, now the things are changing faster than we can understand and ponder about the change. Children are no more protégés of their parents or a platform where they can make their unfulfilled wishes come true again.  It is a fact that school going children of this age have more extensive knowledge than their predecessors. I have seen so many children teaching their tech-illiterate parents to work on the Internet and handling sites like Youtube and Instagram. Hence, we can provide best parenting and a happy childhood to our children only when these two eras combine and move ahead with the sweeping and rushing change that gets hold of us each passing day. 

I would like to present a very common example here that every one of us must be acquainted with. I noticed how this small bonding experience helped to bridge a sort of communication gap between one of my young cousins and his somewhat introvert father. The gap started when my uncle won a smart-phone in some lucky-draw in his office. However, he stuck to his ancient mobile handset and that smart-phone remained untouched for a few weeks. One day (I was also there) my cousin, who studies in class seventh, patiently taught his father to handle the smart-phone, to download the apps and watch videos and take pictures. Even though my uncle was slightly reluctant and apprehensive, he gave in and took a long tutorial from his young son gladly. Those 40 minutes or so were real bonding moments and it was really adorable and rather a proud moment for a father to notice the ‘tech- depth’ of his child. This way, my uncle was also made to open a Facebook account. My cousin, who is yet to enter his teenage, is a complete tech savvy kid and has full knowledge of almost every gadget. His father now keeps posting on his FB account and this way can also keep a tab on his growing son’s friends and other habits as well as whereabouts. 

In another incident, I fondly remember, how a child forced her mother to chuck saris and wear jeans and T-shirts! She wanted her mother to look as ‘modern’ as other parents of her classmates. The mother-daughter duo bonded over this little demand and this way, I think the child remains assured of the support, importance and acceptance from her parents’ side.

We cannot expect children to obey us without asking anything nor can we behave like ringmasters and expect their love. Even child psychiatrists opine that for parents to enter the world of kids and to mingle with them is an absolute necessity. This way, children will be free of a suppressed childhood and parents will be able to know their children far deeply and in a much better manner. To learn is life and these little bonds, when clubbed together create what we learn from our homes and parents. To make sure your child smiles when recalling these moments, be his/her buddy, for there is no other way to conquer a child’s heart and to make him learn things and yes, you will also learn a lot. So, bond with them instead of binding!

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