Yesterday, when I was browsing the television channels I saw a glimpse of the movie Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya. The scene I saw was in which Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif were enjoying with some kids (I didn’t see any other scene so I don’t have any idea who those kids were). In that scene, the child asks Katrina Kaif if she knows how kids are born. Katrina Kaif answers very tactfully that God gives children to girls when they get married. And the child’s reaction was quick; he pitied Katrina Kaif for not knowing the correct answer!
When I gave it a thought, I realized that it was very much true in today’s sense.

It’s not a question of loss of childhood. It’s hard to find a child these days who doesn’t think like an adult already. It’s about the role parents are thrusting upon them. I mean, am I the only person who feels angry every time Sushmita Sen goes to press conferences with her favourite accessory, her daughter Renee, who is made to sing songs, kiss her mommy and look adorable? Are the Rakhi Sawants of this world not enough to dance and pose for our attention.

Why is everybody trying to make their children some performing fleas?
As if the children were not enough telling adults what to consume and where to spend (from movies to cars), now they are also capturing the headlines. Take the 3-yr old Anant who was kidnapped from Noida, last week; or 5-yr old Prince who fell into an open shaft in his village; or 16-yr old Akansha, who sang non-stop for 61 hrs trying to get into Guinness Book of World Records. The wall-to-wall coverage of Prince’s rescue got news channels soap-like viewership, impossible for any non- Star Plus soap or a non- cricket event in our country.

Let the children go back to doing what they do best. Being themselves, sometimes idiotic, often affectionate and always enquiring.

Let us all be just ourself and let others be just themselves.

Today was a sad day. Got up in the morning an hour before my father came to wake me up. I was still lying on the bed. Got ready for the college and rushed to bus stop. Got my usual bus- thanks to red light.

Had to wait a little longer at the next bus stop for my U-spl. When I was waiting there a stick hit my foot and I turned back to see a blind man walking towards a bus. His stick missed a big stone lying there and he was just about to trip when I held his arms. He just straightened up and walked away. This incident left a very sad thought in my mind. It left me wondering whether I would have been able to hold myself if I had missed that stone on that road. It’s a very stupid question to ask but the answer I kept getting is ‘no’. I would have actually tripped on the road. And I think anybody would have. After all, haven’t we tripped anywhere just because we didn’t see a chair or a person? We have our eyes intact, then how did we miss it? The reason for this is subconsciously; we all take our senses for granted. We will walk on a road chatting with our friends, hearing the noise, smelling the air, tasting the chewing gum we have in our mouth and looking for an okay road to walk, all at the same time. But how many times do we actually appreciate what we feel? Can we actually enjoy the experiences our friends narrate us, feel sick of the noise of horns, appreciate the fragrance from the nearby flower vender, savor the strawberry flavored gum in our mouth and look for potholes, all at the same time? I don’t think we can, though we all thrive to do it everyday and believe that we are good at it.

That blind man could manage to prevent the fall because he was aware of all his senses. He knows that he can’t see the potholes and stones and thus needs to be alert all the time.

Can expecting something terrible avert it? I saw in the morning that it can…

I am in a philosophical mood today. Maybe because my friend, who accompanies me to my college, took the day off and so I had to go alone. Maybe that’s why I got time to think all this truth-seeking stuff. Otherwise she would have kept me busy in trying to use all my senses at the same time! Anyways, I have learned a lesson today. I will try to be more aware of my senses. Lets see if I can avert the fall…