Discover The Child In You

Discover The Little Child In You

The greatest poem ever known
Is one all poets have outgrown:
The poetry, innate, untold,
Of being only four years old.
~Christopher Morley, To a Child

All children love cartoons. Well that doesn’t make a news but if the grownups do it will, it does. People think something is wrong with the person, if they learn that he/she prefers to watch cartoons over serials or shows meant for the grownups. Why is it so? Who makes the cartoons in the first place? Well the children don’t. The people who make them are children at heart. They know what children like to see. What will make them happy? They live their dreams. When Walt Disney created the now eternal character of Mickey Mouse people scoffed at him. They thought making a mouse speak and dance will be a weirdest thing to do. It took him years to give shape to his dream. Today Disney Corporation is one of the biggest money churner in the word of the movies. Disney World theme parks are visited word over by millions of people. They go there to live a bit of their childhoods, which either they couldn’t and regret because they could not or because they miss the fun of it every now and then or they want to relive the fond memories of it along with their children. They love to become children with their children again for a while, at least if not permanently.

There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again. ~Elizabeth Lawrence

How many of us have seen, read, enjoyed every episode of The Simpsons, Asterix, Kelvin and Hobbs, Tintin and many more. Aren’t all those excellent creations? What about He-man, The Flintstone, The Superman, very active and very much loved Batman and Phantom? All these characters were initially created as cartoons though later some were adapted in to movies and many actors achieved iconic statuses living them. And what about the movies based on fantasy? What about the best selling classics like Tom Sawyer and Huckle Bury Fin adventures? What about Peter Pan and our very own Panchtantra stories, the songs like Chanda Mama door ke, Chhoti si ye meri naiiya, Lakadii Ki Katthi? Don’t we all love them all and when we hear the children sing those our hearts don the garbs of children and our feet tap to the musical beat? Yet sadly, we put too many restrictions on our children. First we introduce them to this world of fantasy fondly, then slowly we start pulling them out of it. Zyada cartoon mat dekho, Har waqt cartoon mat dekho, ab aap bade ho gaye ho. So where should the child draw the line? When does the child start becoming an adult?

When you finally go back to your old hometown, you find it wasn't the old home you missed but your childhood. ~Sam Ewing

The growing up child doesn’t understand why something that makes him happy even still has suddenly started getting him scolds. Why the same parents who once introduced him to it want him not to indulge in it? Some children of their own grow out of it some don’t. A research has shown that the first love of the present day European young boys now is video games while the girls come a distant second. Some people find it disturbing. Why should we call it disturbing? At least modern day boys are not indulging in teenage sex like before, nor turning to smoking, drinking, high speed driving or other such things for which they attracted ire of the society in the past. Those who do may not have all together disappeared but their ranks certainly have reduced.

The older I grow the more earnestly I feel that the few joys of childhood are the best that life has to give. ~Ellen Glasgow

I too introduced my sons to the pleasures of fantasy land. The elder one from the day, he could talk and walk showed great interest in the cars. When he was three years old he could distinguish between all models of the cars. He would imagine himself to be a car and turning his hands in make believe motion of the wheels and with his lips vibrating to produce reverberating sound of the Engine’s hum, he would run around imagining himself to be a car. He would prattle and lisp “Ye chalni ho gayee hai”, “ye khaab ho gayee hai”, Is mein petrol dal do” adding more and more fantasy elements to his dream and we would play on by imitating and devising actions.

As was to be, he started getting on our nerves. Once he hurt his toe very badly. I caught hold of him and scolded him severely. Raising a warning finger I said, “Aap car nahiin ho.” We were very wary of him hurting his self when on the ships and because of the restriction of the space he often could not give lusty flights to his imagination but the moment he found an open space or a piece of land which was so rare for him to see his imagination would start soaring. He would climb down our arms, free himself and run about crazily.

Once we went to Mc’donald in a port city in Nicaragua. A big open space among haphazard jumble of chairs was an ideal place for him to live his dream and manoeuvre his make believe car. As he started negotiating his make believe car through the confusion of chairs, I walked up to him. He stopped in mid motion and tears filled up his eyes. As I held him from his arm he said, “ Papa ye car nahi hai, ye truck hai.” The words struck me like a bolt. I realized that all he had understood from the reprimand was that imitating being a car was probably not ok. I sat down on my knees and looked at his bandaged toe. I was myself moved to tears. In my effort to save guard my child against pain, I was snatching his pleasures away. I was trying to do the impossible of segregating the pleasures from pain while I needed to learn from him how to forget pain and enjoy the moment of happiness as he was doing. The thought of his pain was hurting me while there was no place for it in his mind at that blissful moment. I hugged him and let him play.

I'd give all wealth that years have piled,
The slow result of Life's decay,
To be once more a little child
For one bright summer day.
~Lewis Carroll, "Solitude"

I lived a lot of my childhood through them. The computers though had come in the markets but had not yet taken the fancy of the world like they have taken now. My sons however had the privilege of having introduction and access to them right from very early years of their lives . When I bought my first laptop my younger son was only three years old. He had to stand on my office chair to reach the laptop sitting on the table. He could not only switch it on but also boot it and start the games like Packman, Car racing, ‘Prince of Persia’ etc. by reaching the directories that held the files. The games then were played by using key combinations and he could play the games though he hadn’t learnt his alphabets still. Our children got so addicted to the cartoons and the video games that we regretted it a great deal and worried a lot about their future.

My job kept me away from my family for larger part of the year and it was impossible for my wife to stop them. But I asked them to choose the careers their hearts asked them to follow and myself being an Engineer inducting them to this vocation was all I knew about. So Computer Engineering was something they wanted to and got into. They play the video games still and watch the cartoons too and both of them are well past their teens. In fact the elder one has done his masters in the Computer Engineer and is in Australia and the younger one is pursuing his graduation in the same subject here in India.

This time when I went for a short break to India incidentally both of them were there. I asked them to give me some ‘Anime’ cartoons and video games they loved. They gave me an advanced version of the video game “The Prince Of Persia” and some Anime cartoons. I haven’t had time to play the game yet but I have been brought around to see two of the anime movies by regular persuasions during our chats. So I have seen two of those. “Five centimeters per second” and “Grave of the fire flies”. I have in long time not seen such beautiful movies. It will be unfair to call them cartoons. Except for the characters being cartoons and all the images hand drawn by the artists as is a necessary element of a cartoon movie there is nothing which can make me call those as cartoon films. The details and the authenticity of the details is superb. The sounds, the sound effects, the expressions, the emotions and the accuracy of the details is awesome. The stories are very mature and very moving. In fact I am finding myself groping for words to express my experience.

When I told my elder son about my elation after having seen the first one “Five Centimeter Per Second” he said Papa, “How some people who mean so much to you once, slowly fade away from your life?” and that mature statement coming from my son who was a child yesterday brought the meaning of the whole film gleaming on me like benediction, as if it was the shafts of rays of knowledge come down to me, tearing the clouds of oblivion fogging my intellect. The movie suddenly became all the more beautiful. And then one day the younger one insisted that I must see “Graves of the fire flies” and to make sure that I did, he said, he will call up again to check. He didn’t call but dear friends I sat myself down and saw the movie. In years I haven’t seen such a marvelous thing. Compared to a lot of trash we get to see while slogging through a movie, they are so simple, so clean and simply beautiful. Excellent pieces of creation and if I can make even one of you see those, I will consider this article worth a good effort.

I will make a small request to those who read me or by chance read this blog. Just watch some of these and know what you don’t, ‘the pleasure of watching a cartoon film’. Relive your childhood for some time again and see what beauty you could have passed by. You can search for these movies at Google or ‘isohunt.com’ or if you are in America or Europe, I think you can get them on rent from the movie stores. Rediscover your childhood for a while today.

And here’s something that will make you smile and yet leave your eyes moist.

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,

Oh excuse me please" was my reply.

He said, "Please excuse me too;

I wasn't watching for you."

We were very polite, this stranger and I.

We went on our way and we said good-bye.

But at home a different story is told,

How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,

My son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.

"Move out of the way," I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.

I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.

While I lay awake in bed,

God's still small voice came to me and said,

While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use,

But the children you love, you seem to abuse.

Go and look on the kitchen floor,

You'll find some flowers there by the door.

Those are the flowers he brought for you.

He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.

He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,

You never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."

By this time, I felt very small,

And now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed;

Wake up, little one, wake up," I said.

Are these the flowers you picked for me?"

He smiled, "I found 'em, out by the tree.

I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.

I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue."

I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;

I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."

He said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay. I love you anyway."

I said, "Son, I love you too, and I do like the flowers,

especially the blue."
Author of the poem unknown


Bye for now- Navneet

Hari Shawl Orre

Mere liye to zindagi usi din ttheher gayee thhee-
Tum mujhe chhod ke jis pal, jis peher gayee thhee-
Ab bhi yaad aati ho wohi hari shawl orre-
Dekh kar mujhe door se muskurati ho-
Aur wahi main sharmaya sa khada hoon door kone main-
Namaskar ki mudra mein, haath jode.

Dekhta, door bechain tumhari nazar-
utthti, langhti bekhabar jamavde ke badha dalte sar-
Rukti, sehmi si, niharti-ghuharti,
mann main prabhu ka naam pukarti
ruh se huyee chanchal-

tthitthak jati duniya ki painee nazron se dar-
sajal nayan ab- betab mann,
besabr chahta loon main (mujhe) bahon main bhar,
yaan bhar jaoon uski bahon main kaundhti bijlee se dar.

Badte nahin kadam- sakhiyaan banh pakad le jana chahti-
tum na na karti haath chhudana chahti, bahana karti.
Dekhti peechhe mud mud kar- aakhir pa kar meri jhalak
khush ho haath hilati-
phir utthe haath se balon ko sehlati chalee gayee –
Aur rah dekhta reh gaya main umar bhar-

Mujhe nahin pata thha- tumhain bhi-
Wo humari aakhri mulakat hogi-
Phir kabhi hogi to bas phone par hi baat hogi-
Mujhe khabar hogi to ek card ke sahare-
Aur ek deevar khadi ho jayegi beech mere tumhare-

Mujhe nahin pata thha us din-
shadi main koyee ajnabee tum par fida ho jayega-
aur itni jaldi achanak tumhara vivah ho jayega-

Tum meri sparsh ki duniya se chali jaogi-
aur kewal khayalon main hi aaogi. Waise hi hansti-muskurati,
mujhe jeevan ka andaz sikhati,
zindagi meri-tum kisi aur ki zindagi ho jaogi-

Aur main tumhare aaney ka intzaar karta rahoonga-
Jeene ke bahane, kavita mein bula tumhain pyar karta rahoonga-

Jo khalipan tum chhod gayee thhee pechhe ,
Usey ab tak bhar nahin paya hun main tumhare khyalon. say-
Ab bhi reh reh ke lahoo rista hai mere dil ke chhalon se.

Buda ho gaya hoon main- Zindagi ke din reh gaye hain thode
Par ab bhi Jarjarta ki pahunch se parey dekhta hoon tumhain,
khadi ho wohi hari shawl orre.

Desire

A Scene At A Sailor's Home

Desire

When I told my son, I have to go
Back to the ship
He said, No, I won’t let you go
clung to me and began to cry.
I picked him up, kissed him and asked
Why do you cry my baby
just tell me why
What toys you want me to bring you
What things you want me to buy?
No. No.. He shook his head instead
as tears fell in streams
I won’t let you go this time
and he won’t tell me his dreams.
His mother tried her hand
She thought she was more adept
at handling his moods
and being a mother, she better understood.
She lisped… Come now be a good boy
You must know, your Papa has to go
to get money, sonny
so that we can get all things we need.
… a big house , A car and lead
A life sans worry
Hurry now, take your milk and go to sleep
He got down from her lap
and ran as if he had an answer for her needs.
And came back hiding something behind his back
A mischief in his eyes, a smile on his face.
And came where we sat.
What do you hide from me, I said
What do you have in your hand
No, he said, I won’t show
First promise that now, you won’t go..
O.K. Promise! I said,
And I’ll tell you a story today in bed
of a prince, who conquered
where ever he was sent
by the king, his father
but this couldn’t make him happy
no matter where he went
And he had everything a man can desire
but he wasn’t happy
Because the danseuse, he wanted his princess
His parents won’t consent.
He interrupted me in my reverie
and rode in to my lap
and jingled his piggy bank in his hand
He shook it like a wand
as magic lit his eyes he said
take it all and keep it
Now promise, you won’t go.
I drew him to my lips
kissed him and began to cry
My son, I said
the world of love is so good
But why the man has never understood.
What he needs for living is there,
where his heart resides
But why he doesn’t see it
and why he doesn’t know
why he doesn’t understand
and where does he go
to look for happiness
when all the while
it’s in the smiles
of those he lives for…….
What more should he need
what more should he desire
when money can’t give it
nor getting it kill the fire
My child here you are ready to forgo
all that you possess
So that your dad
may not go to get
what he doesn’t have
Ha! you understand love
more than the man has ever had, I brood
My answer and the lack of it
yet again spoil his mood
and unsure of what more he could do
to stop his father from going
he begins to cry yet again
And his mother takes him away
as he weeps
It’s time he goes to sleep
I know he cries
when he’s tired and when he’s hungry
She cuddles him vainly
and tries to cheer
Dear, I know why do you cry
Now be a good boy, don’t weep
It’s time for you to sleep
I sat there alone and thought
Well! Who is and who is not
Hungry and Asleep
Lost in Maya
Thick and deep

"Maya" means illusion, which according to "The Geeta" (The Holy Book of the Hindus) this word is.