Frustrating Escapism

Well, my aversion to romances is that such men - and, ok, ok, such women - don't exist.

But what frustrates me more are movies like The Wednesday and Payanam. Both deal with an issue closest to every individual's heart. They show a dream that can never be.

While most movies show heroes bashing up villains that can never be, in these two movies (and many like this), they deal with the issue of terrorists and terrorism, how it affects common man and a solution. The Wednesday, the Hindi movie, has an amazing twist after a gripping plot. And one wishes somewhere, someone would do it.

Payanam, a recent Tamil movie, is yet another wishful thinking. A hijack, the very realistic delay in taking a decision, and finally the moment when the decision has to be taken. Nature intervenes, and people are able to communicate a momentous decision despite the suspicious terrorists...but despite such loopholes, it leaves one wishing such things happened in real life.

Well, one can definitely dream on... and maybe we should be happy that movies and books give us that escape into the world of make believe at least for a while.

Growing Up

In 2008, my then six-year-old daughter struggled to comprehend the joke the 10-year-old boy told her. Suddenly in the previous five days, I noticed how much she had grown!

She was given a berth of her own in the train. Onwards, she slept in the lower berth, but while returning, we had to risk sending her to the middle one.

At the resort we stayed, she independently made friends with uncles and aunties and didn’t cling to me as was her wont. If any known adult passed her without noticing, she made it a point to shyly call them and say hi!

But the return was the cutest part. She found out the boy’s name, sat with him as he played on his father’s cellphone. He was sweet enough to include her in the game. Then the two of them lay on the two middle berths in our coupe, while I was on side upper with my younger son. My girl and the boy continued to chat, and I could hear him asking her questions, telling her jokes and patiently waiting for her to comprehend them. I wanted to rush to her and explain, I wanted her to stop talking and sleep. The one sensible thing I did was to resist the urge. I think she was managing fairly well and it did her self-esteem good to be having an “adult” conversation on her own. The two shut up on their own, and went off to sleep without any help from us grown ups.

And, now, she wants to have light skin!

Where do they pick up such ideas! How does their minds expand to understand complex details and life skills?

When do they cease needing us?

When do we start wanting them around us more?

A Framework for Children

Should be academically capable
Should be socially well-behaved
Should be Good at some extra curricular
Should conform to rules

Then we will accept him in school.

All non-conformers, please queue up at the counsellor's.

Parents, beget perfect all-rounders, prim and proper and well-behaved all the time? Go figure