Urbanization of childhood in India

Have you ever compared your kid’s childhood with your own? Do you think there has been a significant difference in our upbringing compared to our children’s? Nine out of ten times -- if you are living in urban India – your answer is going to be YES.

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to experience the changes that urban Indian neighborhoods have gone through. And these very changes have altered the natural growth pattern of our innocent children.

Changes -- under the pretext of development -- have been induced too much and too soon, and in multiple dimensions: economically, socially and physically, in our neighborhoods. The economical and physical changes are far easier to understand and comprehend than the undercurrent social changes.

We can see malls at every other corner “nukkad” in our vicinity, permanently altering the physical landscapes. The steep rise in the number of vehicles, owned by an average Indian household, has resulted in congestion even in inner roads leave aside the main roads. The problems of rise in pollution level and its relation to global warming, road accidents, bird migration are well recorded and talked about everywhere. Strangely, I am yet to see a serious debate on how these changes have altered the lives of our young ones.

There are no more open spaces where our children can go and ride their bicycles these days. The idea of gully cricket would soon finds its place only in our history books, as most of us are scared to send our children out on the streets either because of traffic or pot-holed roads forget about their rendezvous with gully cricket. The few green areas left in the neighborhoods have been converted into walk-areas with huge signboards of “playing not allowed” hanging in front of them. Hence, the fact that obesity is taking endemic proportions amongst the urban children should not really surprise us.

Economically, the urban India has made long strides and the signs are everywhere – the Ferraris, Hondas, Nokia, Victoria Secret, La Royale have made great inroads in Indian households. This is a clear indicator of the increased levels of disposable income of the middle class. But, all this has come at a cost – the cost that unknowingly our children are paying very dearly. The working middle class does not have time to spend with their children in order to attain this heightened level of wealth, and as a trade-off for time they end up buying some latest model of mobile phones, mp3 player, some new TV channel on their CAS systems or a playstation for there deprived kids. For lack of a better term, let’s use electronic blast to represent all the above gadgets. The observation that our children are very easily distracted these days should not astonish us anymore.

It’s the under-current social changes that are the scariest with far reaching consequences. The breaking up of the Indian Joint family system, K-named television soaps, entry of internet into the young lives and inclination to have a single child has completed altered the social fabric of urban India. Lack of company at home and abundance of nuclear families has essentially sucked out the idea of empathy and tolerance amongst today’s children – the qualities that are responsible to bind our diverse country together. So, don’t fret if your younger one cannot accommodate with his sister who is giving a board examination, because he has to watch his favorite cartoon; so what she has an exam tomorrow.

All in all the changes -- economic, social and physical -- in the urban Indian neighborhoods have turned our innocent young ones to stubborn, individualistic, distracted and physically unfit individuals. Welcome to the Urbanization of Indian Childhood.

Be Yourself

Just the other day , I was going through my collection of old editions of Reader's Digest ,when I stumbled upon an article -Finding Yourself Again By Arthur Gordon. It was a story about a successful man who felt a loss of energy and enthusiasm in his life.He felt despondent without any reason. Have you ever shared the same feeling at some time of life? If the answer is yes, then take a look at this story by Arthur Gordon which I have tried to summarize in my own words.
This man ( say Mr.X ) then consulted the doctor who advised him to go to the beach the next day and not to read or write or listen to music or even talk to anyone. The doctor had given him four prescription notes which were to be opened and read at 9a.m, 12p.m, 3p.m and 6p.m respectively. Mr X , at first thought the doctor must be crazy; nevertheless he went to the beach the next day.He then opened the first prescription which read as follows:
LISTEN CAREFULLY
He concentrated on the sounds of nature.He listened to the growl of sea , the lapping of waves against rocks and wondered about the enormity of nature.It was then that he realized he was feeling and thinking of things bigger than himself and that gave him immense relief. Moreover he found that by shifting his focus from inner problems to the outer world(nature), he is able to it calm his frantic mind.At 12p.m when the sea glittered in the golden rays of sun, he read the next prescription which said:

TRY REACHING BACK
So Mr. X peered into the well of past and basked in the happy memories of his childhood.He realized that by reaching back, he had virtually touched happiness which released little flashes of power and emotional strength.He felt very light-hearted. At 3p.m , he opened the third prescription which read:

RE-EXAMINE YOUR MOTIVES
Mr. X followed the instructions and realized that earlier he used to derive pleasure while working ,which later starting fading and what remained was just the material benefits the work rewarded.It was at this point of time that the boredom & lack of energy started seeping into his work life.He understood the problem and pledged to himself that he would work not just for money but also for the sense of joy , sense of contributing to society and also for the sense of productivity.At 6p.m,as he gazed at the setting sun , he read the last prescription which said:

WRITE YOUR WORRIES ON SAND
And that's exactly what he did He then turned his back and walked towards the city with a spring in his steps and music in his heart , as the tide behind him came in and washed his worries.