We went to Shilparamam over the weekend. Since we live in a tiny teeny apartment, my son doesnt get to play outdoors and the plan was to give him a little outdoor playtime. Shilparamam has many handicrafts stalls, an amphitheatre, a function hall, rabbits, ducks any many more things. But our area of interest was the children's park and to be more specific, the slide in the park. My son is quite obsessed with Slides and was pretty much excited and headed straight towards it. But alas! the park was crowded. Apparently the school children (of a girls school) have come for excursion and were having the time of their lives. They too seemed to be obsessed with slide and hence there was a long queue to have a ride on everyone's favorite slide.
My son, who is scared of crowd, maintained a good distance from the slide. He stared at it for sometime and then amused himself with the sand. In the beginning, I protested but gave in. I watched him as he happily played in the sand and consoled myself that its sometimes good to play in the sand and expose ourselves to the germs and microbes as it builds immunity. I joined my son and drew few shapes in the sand but eventually we got bored and started staring at the slide, hoping the children to leave. God finally answered our prayers and we heard the teacher whistle. She was calling the girls to assemble together to leave. As I was expectantly noticing the proceedings, the events that followed rekindled my school memories. Hearing the whistle, the girls scurried and hurried towards the slide, sliding and quickly coming back to form a queue and climb it. They were squeezing every fraction of a second to enjoy. The teacher came with a cane to hit them, and the girls giggled and dispersed from the slide only to return once the teacher turned her head. The girls were quickly sliding, landing on top of the other and giggling uncontrollably. They neither flinched nor complained when they dashed into each other. They just continued forming a queue and sliding. Dirty clothes, sweaty faces, dusty hands, dusty legs but happy faces. Such a lively atmosphere was enough to brighten up my mood. Such sportive girls. One of the girls noticed my son and volunteered to give him a slide ride on her lap and all she got was a "touch me not" look. Yeah! thats my son. But the other little ones present in the park, gladly agreed and allowed the school girls to carry them and slid together happily as we stood watching.
Later that evening, we watched the girls playing kabaddi. Falling on the ground, not minding the bruises and scratches they got. These girls are from a government school and were happy, their teacher was bossy but friendly. The girls were naughty but not rude to the teacher. When the teacher hit them, they didn't shout back. They didn't protest or form a group arguing with her. They sheepishly smiled at her and pleaded for extra time when she came with her cane. That was how we were in our school. These days a teacher hitting a student is considered a crime. I wonder why. In my opinion, a little hitting to discipline the child shouldn't matter. That was how we were treated in our school and we turned up well. On the contrary we are doing everything to entertain their childish tantrums which mature into teenage tantrums. Not sure if thats the way to raise responsible citizens. Also, we don't let our children play in open, in mud or sand. We are careful as to whom they play with and dont let them mingle. We make a big deal of their scratches and bruises. And doing so, we forget that we are snatching away their childhood from them. They are missing all the fun we had. Foolishly we are hiding them from nature. By over protecting them, we are doing them more harm than gain. Occasional cuts and bruises make them tough. Playing outdoors is good for bones and overall development- both physical and mental. Playing with other kids they learn to adjust and learn the art of making friends. We are social animals and we have to socialize. Lets try to give our children the childhood they deserve. Let them build awesome memories of childhood like we did. Dont let our love for them impair them. Because we won't be there to protect them forever. Its their life and they have to fend for themselves. Lets raise them to be tough, independent and sensitive beings.
Not sure if this makes sense but may be I am delirious due to lack of sleep.
My son, who is scared of crowd, maintained a good distance from the slide. He stared at it for sometime and then amused himself with the sand. In the beginning, I protested but gave in. I watched him as he happily played in the sand and consoled myself that its sometimes good to play in the sand and expose ourselves to the germs and microbes as it builds immunity. I joined my son and drew few shapes in the sand but eventually we got bored and started staring at the slide, hoping the children to leave. God finally answered our prayers and we heard the teacher whistle. She was calling the girls to assemble together to leave. As I was expectantly noticing the proceedings, the events that followed rekindled my school memories. Hearing the whistle, the girls scurried and hurried towards the slide, sliding and quickly coming back to form a queue and climb it. They were squeezing every fraction of a second to enjoy. The teacher came with a cane to hit them, and the girls giggled and dispersed from the slide only to return once the teacher turned her head. The girls were quickly sliding, landing on top of the other and giggling uncontrollably. They neither flinched nor complained when they dashed into each other. They just continued forming a queue and sliding. Dirty clothes, sweaty faces, dusty hands, dusty legs but happy faces. Such a lively atmosphere was enough to brighten up my mood. Such sportive girls. One of the girls noticed my son and volunteered to give him a slide ride on her lap and all she got was a "touch me not" look. Yeah! thats my son. But the other little ones present in the park, gladly agreed and allowed the school girls to carry them and slid together happily as we stood watching.
Later that evening, we watched the girls playing kabaddi. Falling on the ground, not minding the bruises and scratches they got. These girls are from a government school and were happy, their teacher was bossy but friendly. The girls were naughty but not rude to the teacher. When the teacher hit them, they didn't shout back. They didn't protest or form a group arguing with her. They sheepishly smiled at her and pleaded for extra time when she came with her cane. That was how we were in our school. These days a teacher hitting a student is considered a crime. I wonder why. In my opinion, a little hitting to discipline the child shouldn't matter. That was how we were treated in our school and we turned up well. On the contrary we are doing everything to entertain their childish tantrums which mature into teenage tantrums. Not sure if thats the way to raise responsible citizens. Also, we don't let our children play in open, in mud or sand. We are careful as to whom they play with and dont let them mingle. We make a big deal of their scratches and bruises. And doing so, we forget that we are snatching away their childhood from them. They are missing all the fun we had. Foolishly we are hiding them from nature. By over protecting them, we are doing them more harm than gain. Occasional cuts and bruises make them tough. Playing outdoors is good for bones and overall development- both physical and mental. Playing with other kids they learn to adjust and learn the art of making friends. We are social animals and we have to socialize. Lets try to give our children the childhood they deserve. Let them build awesome memories of childhood like we did. Dont let our love for them impair them. Because we won't be there to protect them forever. Its their life and they have to fend for themselves. Lets raise them to be tough, independent and sensitive beings.
Not sure if this makes sense but may be I am delirious due to lack of sleep.
Very nice Anusha, loved the way you narrated the story.
ReplyDeletethank u :)
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