This post of mine was a result of a lot of incidents and happenings put together. A lot of people are fond of children, not because they look cute, but they have a certain innocence about them. They are devoid of those conditioning that binds us, and are happy and peaceful in their own world. Thanks to the new trend, rapidly spreading westernization (I wonder what the westerners would say if they saw this madness being blamed on them), parents of these days are too busy to take care of their children. You may find most children of these days growing up under their grandparents' supervision. Quite often I see old men and women, walking, rather, may I use the word "limping" or half running with great effort and pain, behind their naughty grandchildren, who treat them with no more regard than they have for servants at home (Servants are not meant to be treat so lowly either). The whole process of waking them up, getting them dressed, force them to finish their breafast, dropping them and picking them up from school, and dropping them at their "parents' " place is now the duty of every grandparent. This "duty" of theirs is not just on school days, but also on weekends, when the couple together goes out for partying, late night movies etc. Some people spoil their kids with gadgets, as owning them has now become the latest trend. You're in 5th grade, and you don't own a mobile?? "Dude.. you must be kidding me!!". Parents who can afford more than luxury buy mobile, PS2, laptops (even at 6th grade), and a whole collection of game cds and a really large amount as pocket money. Even parents who wish not to spoil their children like that are forced to get one, for their child is otherwise, ignored, humiliated and friendless.
Kids of these days have access to almost everything.. they are even clever enough to create profiles for themselves in social networking sites, project themselves to be older than their age, befriend any Tom, Dick and Harry to compete for the "Person who has the most number of friends", and access that which is way beyond their age. It may seem shocking and almost untrue to you, but I've caught one of my own cousins checking out nude pictures on the net!! What we never knew until our 7th grade when certain portions were "omitted" in Biology class, children know at the age of 7. I can even vouch that they would have a larger pool of "A" jokes than us at this age! Cajoling kids, tousling their hair, or giving a peck on their cheek is no longer categorized as admiration or cute. Kids think its "embarrassing" when their parents exhibit some public display of affection. I was shocked when one of my little cousin's friend reacted with a "Sssup dude..." when I greeted him. @#%@#$$@ Well, my face then registered a zillion emotions at that moment! That moment of admiration that I developed for that chubby kid was shattered in no less than a second! A lot of kids also go to places like CCD, Barrista and all those posh places and spend magnanimously. Laptops, mobiles, bikes, pocket money of 500 a week, hanging out with friends at posh places atleast once in a week (costs not covered under pocket money funding) has become a requisite. Friends are just a gang of people who give each other company for all the above atrocities. It is mandatory to have a boyfriend/girlfriend at high school. And much worse as you enter college. Kids are born precocious these days!!
Another interesting feature of the GenX is that they have to undergo a motley of extra curricular classes. And this too, is done on a competitive basis. The boy on the second floor attends 5. You must attend atlest 8!! Such is the attitude of parents! Who is to blame for all this?? The parents? Children? A really tough question to answer. What happens if they don't compete is that, their child, regardless of how good, talented, or a darling he/she is, are mindlessly categorized as imbeciles or dunces! Their parents make enough money, and so going abroad for Masters has become a "trend" too. A handful go there because they are interested in studies. The only motto that's fed into them is be better than the best (in a mindless way) and make as much money and maintain your status in society. Schools also add fuel to this fire by their "new teaching methodologies". They burden the kids with projects that require access to internet, "copy-pasting" stuff off wikipedia, taking colour printouts, filing them and submitting them on the stipulated date. The ones with no access to internet, or who cannot afford to spend for printouts are considered unfit to study in that School. The fate of these assignments are to go into the bin! There are schools which even employ "e learning", and that requires the 1st graders to carry laptops to school!!
There was once a time when we listened to our parents out of love. Such is the scenario that kids make decision for themselves and for the family. Parents don't have any say. The word "obedience" and respect is now obsolete. A judge once told in his lecture at a school, "Every parent wants his/her child to take up a professional course, go abroad, do their masters, settle there and take up a job that has a turnover of lakhs per month! What happens when you're really sick and need their love, care and attention the most, is that you get a mail, or rarely, a call, saying that they've transferred the requisite money for their treatment, and for hiring a nurse. Parents ought not to be "silly" enough to expect their "busy" children to come down and spend some quality time with them during their last days.
Where is the world going??
I have just this message to the parents: If you think your child is an expert in computers or handling gadgets at such a young age, well, please think again! They are misusing it to the maximum possible extent. They have not invented any new software. Never feel proud of it. Gaming for hours together is not a pasttime or hobby. Its just sheer addiction. Try this at home: ask your child what his/her hobbies are... not many children would ever give back a constructive, creative reply! And if the answer is null, then your child is IT!! Its high time you do something before your child gets sucked into the fabricated, false, "Modern World". This is not keeping up with growing and changing trends, but losing one's individuality, and in children's case, losing it even before they can develop one for themselves. A lot of us have ambitions: little events like getting a gift for our parents, buying ourselves stuff with our first salary, brought immense happiness. You bring up your child to be "self sufficient" and "fully equipped", be in par with the "other one", tell me this: How would they know the value of anything in life? What would their meaning of life be?? Have they any clue about their culture? How would they define happiness.. as getting high and partying in closed, confined, claustrophobic, flashy clubs and discotheques??
Madness is a state that the mind turns itself into a fabricated world, where the unacceptable truth doesn't exist. Is that what it is ?? Humans are breeding and bringing up an entire race of MAD people?? This goes on, and will go on like a vicious cycle. Madness, leading to more madness.
"Inhe phir se yaad dila de sabak vohi pyaar ka
Ban jaaye gulshan phir se kaanton bhari duniya"
These are the lines out of a song, Ek tu hi bharosa sung to perfection by Lata Mangeshkar. Spread the gospel of love among the masses again, so that this world, which is filled with thorns, will once again blossom into a garden. It will take some joint effort... I am doing my part, and I hope you do too.
