Have you ever wondered when our thoughts turn to children, in whose eyes we
see our ideals still shining, our dreams still glowing, our hopes still bright, we become bit sentimental. Well, I am no different! Only a sentimentalist would ever regard childhood as a time of untroubled innocence.
But do our children really have that untroubled innocence anymore? Surprisingly, this question came to my mind while I paid visit to an interesting exhibition of handicrafts and was met with a very pleasant surprise! I saw absolutely amazing toys made with Terracotta, wood, crystal that took me back to the innocent, simple games I used to enjoy as child with my
friends and siblings!
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| Wooden toys made by artists from Karnataka |
Today, there is more trouble for children and less time
for innocence compared to recent generations. It is not so much that kids have
changed, but that the world has changed around them. And how fast!
Everywhere you look, children today are being forced to grow up faster. Every time I see a tiny toddler (who should ideally be frolicking around and playing with friends/ playmates) engrossed with a game on a cell phone or laptop my heart cringes! To an unprecedented extent, we are witnessing the ravishment of the tender, the sensitive, the delicate, by the savage and brutal forces in modern society.
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| Terracotta toys made by national award winning artists from Kutch, Gujarat |
Children are growing up so fast that they are virtually bypassing childhood as we (if you are in your thirties/forties, you would know what I am talking about here) knew it. They are smart, proud, fiercely independent, strong-willed and sophisticated. They are a generation that has been raised to doubt and challenge authority, to accept little at face value - to enter the mature world long before they are mature themselves! Their lives contain things beyond comprehension a few decades ago, with entire planet and beyond accessible through a single click of a button!
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| Tiny, crystal birds made by a National award winning Delhi artist |
Of course, it is great boon to have technology that has enriched our life and made it much easier, convenient and fun but at the same time sometimes it feels our children are robbed of their innocence in the process. It has alienated children from the real world that influences their social skills to great extent.
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| Wooden yo-yo made by artist from Karnataka |
Any Indian, who has been brought up in smaller city would know the joy of playing games like " gilli danda", "lagori","chor police","kho kho" "kabbadi". The thrill of climbing trees and searching for the fruits specially the ones that were tasted by the birds is beyond words! The excitement of catching butterflies, ladybirds or tadpoles and after the maddening chase was over, releasing them gently and sleeping on the grass bed and feeling proud of one's valiant efforts, was almost an everyday overwhelming ritual. The most beautiful part of these adventures was that there was always a whole gang of children to play with.
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| Colourful, tiny, wooden pots made by artist from Karnataka |
How we used to play and study; how we managed to take time out for entertainment; how we spent time with parents and grandparents listening to the stories with wide-eyed wonderment! What I always admired most in those games is simplicity and how they helped exploring one's individuality and understand many facets of life in general with amazing fun and creativity !
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| Crystal birds made by a Delhi artist |
When the summer months arrived, there was a huge treasure trove of indoor games! Playing with simple, ordinary things like shells, stones or tamarind seeds was ultimate joy! Creating games out of junk was a matter of pride! All these games helped great bonding and imparted great values and life skills without burden of learning them. Many games were designed to teach mathematical skills, develop motor skills, hand eye coordination, concentration, strategy planning, creativity, knowledge and team spirit. The joy of these games was doubled when grand-parents joined the team! Making puppets, assigning names and creating new stories and the characters with help of grand-parents was favourite with boys and girls alike!
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| Wooden racing cars |
Every time, I visit a store to buy gift for any child, I am overwhelmed by the choices. I wonder, why children are complaining of boredom in spite of the multiple options they have? I am dying to see a hand made doll and listen to her stories from a child's mouth. I am dying to see that sense of wonder on a child's face that I feel is lost long back somewhere! Is there anyway we can get it back? I would give anything just to have one glimpse of it!!!
