Let every day be Children’s Day!

``I am getting bored mummy. What should I do?'' Not a very unusual query from children... especially during holidays. ``Do what you want,'' ...

“I am getting bored mummy. What should I do?” Not a very unusual query from children… especially during holidays. “Do what you want,” says mum. Democratic? No. It just means “do what I want you to do but don’t expect my involvement.” Proof? One child switches on to cartoon network and…. “How many times should I tell you not to keep watching cartoon network, you zombie!” The other goes and kneads a beautiful mud ball and…. “look how you’ve dirtied your new frock!” The next calls up a friend and…. “stop gossiping like an old woman, do something worthwhile.” So on and so forth. There is very little place for the child to manoeuvre through the umpteen fences we parents create, without knocking some down; and its all for `their own good’. But children wonder.

It would be an easy issue to resolve, if at least, children know what they want. Their role models too seldom know what they want…. consequently, being unable to help their children make up their mind. A major reason being, we are all hooked on to applause, recognition, praise. It is a deadly addiction, for, apart from alienating a person from his own values and priorities, in favour of someone else’s, it also lands his happiness in another’s keeping. A victim of such addiction more often than not, sacrifices his own desires to do something entirely different just to earn recognition. And when it is not forthcoming, he feels cheated and depressed. Who’s to blame?

These children grow up to opt for careers that give `status’, earn a lot of money and are generally lucrative… even if it means doing something they don’t enjoy. And it is excruciatingly painful to put one’s heart and soul into what one does not like to do much. So cutting corners, pushing blame, justifying failure, and lack of initiative reigns supreme. Gossip and politics flourishes. Who has authored this mediocracy? Who has axed achievement in the bud?

Story continues below this ad

Yet, ironically, we are tremendously achievement-oriented. So, while we, as children spent hours in the hot summer sun playing `gulli-danda’ or lolled in the shade of a tree lapping up `Journey to the centre of the earth’ our children are allowed to play only `seriously’ under the watchful eye of coaches. They should read only, `Science today’ or browse `knowledge enhancing’ CDs and attend `personality development’ classes! They drink soup and fruit juice and eat nutritious stuff like sprouts, wheat flakes and porridge and never indulge in `bhel’, icecream or `chaat’ – not, at least under the parent’s watchful eyes! Every activity hints you’re not ok but we’ll sculpt you to an acceptable level. Is it any wonder that most kids today are `too slow’, `waste time’ and `pick at food?’ Their performance in sports, academics, elocution… whatever, is being benchmarked constantly.

The truth is, we have forgotten the art of lazing, doing something `just for fun’ or better still `doing nothing. We have killed the vagabond in them. Shackled their wonder years and are busy putting them through all that you as a kid said `I won’t do that to my children ‘. How about remembering the promise you made to that child in you, buried under the debris of approval seeking?

H-1B visa fee hike, US H-1B visa policy, $100000 H-1B visa fee, India response to H-1B fee, humanitarian impact H-1B visa, Indian government on H-1B, Randhir Jaiswal H-1B statement, Indian IT companies H-1B visas, Infosys H-1B approvals, TCS H-1B visa employees, Wipro H-1B visa applications, HCL H-1B workforce, US visa restrictions 2025, H-1B visa deadline September 21, Microsoft H-1B travel advisory, Amazon H-1B visa holders, JP Morgan H-1B guidance, H-1B visa program abuse, Indian skilled workers in US, USCIS H-1B data 2023

‘I don’t know what awaits me in the US’: The lives upended by Trump’s H-1B proclamation

India11 hr ago

The recent imposition of a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas by Trump has caused chaos and uncertainty for Indian families in Dubai, leading many to rush back to the US. This has particularly affected Telugu-speaking Indians, with the Telangana IT Minister seeking intervention from the Centre.

View all shorts

Live Blog