It is surprising to see how rapidly the times are changing. With technology progressing at such a rapid pace, it is now becoming increasingly difficult for us to keep a tab on what is the latest gadget being used these days. It is shocking when you buy something from a showroom, and after a week later you come to know that the same thing is now sold cheaper and comes packed with more features! And I bet your heart would sink a little deeper into your diaphragm for a while. I suggest you should consider tying it up to some support if you wouldn’t want it to sink that often; because you will be having more of such ‘attacks’ with the rapid advances made these days. *grin*
Well, such a tremendous rate of technological advancement is really great. I truly appreciate it. I honestly do. But, everything cannot be termed good, healthy and appreciated. There is a flip-side - a few exceptions do exist here.
Oh, I think someone’s moaning that I’m gonna preach here. Well, this definitely will not qualify as a sermon. So, I won’t be taking much of your time.
And one such exception is the Television…
For the record, On Public Service is unique in its outlook and topics. And this blog would never tow another man’s line. What I’m going to talk about here is the effect of the television on the kids’ mentality. *don’t plug your ears. This is something different, seriously*
Yes, I am talking about that Big Box before which we spend atleast a couple of hours every day. From sports and cartoons to news, from movies to songs, it plays anything you could ask for, folks. In any language, from any region – it’s got all that one could possibly want. And what’s more? It comes loaded with a host of features, all at an affordable cost!
Gone are the days when playing in the sun had its charm. During the old days (say, a mere 10 years ago when I was a kid), playing outside had so much of charm and innocence in it.
Gully cricket, hide-and-seek, lock-and-key, Kings and dirt-football were some of the loveliest games I remember playing when I was a scrawny boy of about 12 years. In the church backyard, away from the disapproving stares of ‘the faithful’ we would gather together, about 10 dirty naughty boys – all scrambling and scuffling over a game of gully cricket. Of course, we always had a liberal view when it came to choosing games to play. Some days we did nothing other than see who could scale a 6-feet wall and jump off it. Other days we were just sportive enough to wrestle and tear off sleeves and pockets from one another’s shirts.
Getting dirty was something we always loved to indulge in. Splashing in the puddles of mud, tackling each other in the sand, playing an engrossing game of ‘Catchers’ in the pouring rain, and running about in the scorching sun were all part of the joyful bliss of childhood. To be clean, we thought was girlish. To play ‘civilized’ was considered unbecoming of a real boy.
After all it’s a boy’s world, and we considered getting dirty as an integral part of upholding the ‘true spirit’ of being a boy. We felt it was a matter of pride to get dirty.
Well, the times have definitely changed. And now we are all adults, having cleared the 20-barrier. am now a college student, pursuing my major in (B.E.) Electronics and Communication. Hence, it definitely makes sense when I talk about what’s going to follow.
We live in an apartment, and there are about 6 kids, all of the same age group between 5-9 years. I pass by them playing in the driveway everyday. And every time I pass them, I reminisce of my own childhood days. Those days when I was a mischievous boy…
Most often I stop by to enjoy their game. That is, if they play some game like cricket or football. And when I really am in the best of moods, I would offer to join them for a couple of hits or runs, and then carry on with my work. To laugh away and indulge in the land of bliss, free from all pain and worries would be something that I can afford to pamper myself with, every once in a while. I wish I can join them every time I see them play, but I can’t. And that is because sometimes I don’t understand the games they play. Those games were not the kind of games we used to play, and definitely they are not something I would have thought as good fun, back then.
And that is what I wish to talk about…
Almost everyday they play some game which goes like this:
The kids are running around here and there. And one fellow (obviously the catcher), runs behind them. He has his right hand held up like a gun and he chases the others around. The kid manages to see one fellow scampering away and he speeds up and manages to catch up with the slow runner.
“Zoom! I shot you! I used the Zippon on you, and now you’re stuck. You can’t move! You can’t move!”
Obviously the runner is just too reluctant to give up. He decides that he hasn’t been Zippon-ed, and he turns around and immediately a ‘terrific’ battle ensures. Now, the runner begins to Zap the catcher. Looking at the intensity of their ‘battle’, the frequent reloading of their machine guns and their saw-guns, the shrieks of the ‘wounded’, and the howls of the pursuers, I get the impression that these kids are plain dumb.
They are just silly…
Or, maybe they are retarded…
But definitely they are not enjoying their childhood the right way…
It sometimes looks ridiculous when they go on fighting over whether one of the runners was ‘Zapped’ or he managed to survive the shot and ‘Zip’ the Zapper. *the names are just tongue-twisters. No good for anything else* Sometimes I smile at them with so much of pity in my eyes, feeling sure that when they reach my age, they will regret all the wasted years – those golden years of childhood when their limbs were free to move and they never felt like dumb puppets on a string. Sometimes I wish to knock some sense into them by telling them what they play is sheer nonsense.
But I now know that they can’t help it. They can only play what they know. They just create games from what they’ve seen and heard.
Looking at them, I regret that the television, the cartoon characters and the numerous violent games have conspired together to make these kids seem so dumb. They are not low on intelligence. They are bright. They are actually smart.
Kids, so sweet and loving,
With their innocence –
Ever so charming;
And as long as you don’t –
Watch them play,
That opinion will surely stay.
And if they are so easily influenced by The ‘Idiot’ Box, their case seems to be very very appalling…
This is the kind of age we all live in. The violence around may seem cool and fun to the teenagers. And that is because they obviously know where the line is drawn between imagination and reality. And no amount of pressure or excitement could possibly tempt them to over-step it; all that’s fine because they possibly know their limits.
But sadly these kids may not grow up to remember and know their limits. And even if they are taught their limits, it would become increasingly difficult to stick on the safer side. As they grow up, technology and knowledge would only serve to gradually blur away these limits from their minds. It is true, because what is only served as theoretical ‘Moral Values’ will never reach them, as long as they don't practice it.
Looking at them, and watching the silly violent games they play, I shall always be proud of my own childhood. I shall be proud of the laughter and the tears I had back then; proud of the scars that remain from the fist-fights, the tackles and the scratches. We never lost a moment in enjoying the freedom that came with being young and innocent. And looking at the sad games they play, it makes me cling closer to my own nostalgias. Back then I would never have imagined that someday such kinds of games would ever be played.
And if we don’t take pains to teach the children how it feels to have the sun beating down their faces; to play in the pouring rain; to have their nails clogged with sand and their faces smeared with dirt; to play hard and fair until sweat pours down their faces and onto their shirts; to make friends over a bat-and-a-ball and not over cartridges and guns, it would soon be when they turn out into gun-totting teenagers moving under ‘shoot at sight or provocation’ orders. *definitely not this bad I hope, but I still fear the worst*
The future is ours to enjoy, only if we can learn from our past, and secure the present.
Until then I shall have my windows boarded up. My doors locked and padded from within. A pistol tucked under my shirt and a shotgun kept always within arms’ reach. While a couple of grenades are stacked away safely. Just in case I am out-numbered…
Maybe things would change. Or maybe they won’t. It’s up to us, friends. And we need to think about it.
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