Friends ,
This is my first blog and believe me , I am not at all a well versed reader neither a follower of blogs.
Trust you will all help me in my journey of blogging !
Well , this all started with a fine summer evening when a school friend of mine - Sushant bumped into me after a long time. We had not met for a good 2 years and decided to sit somewhere and sip on a cuppa to catch up on old times.
As the conversation progressed , I realized that his son - Vrushan had finished his school term for 1st standard and his summer vacation had started.
My friend was very keen to get Vrushan engaged in some form of activity since he (Vrushan) was getting quite bored at home.
Sushant had checked out quite a few music schools, guitar classes,swimming lessons ,chess tutors but somehow he found that none of these had interested Vrushan. Sushant was a bit worried !
The above discussions led me to our childhood memories when I remembered the times of our summer vacations . During those days , parents were not really so bothered about what will their children do after they finish their school term. In fact, they had no reason to be bothered.
Each day used to start with the morning routine chores and then a rapid search would start for the box of marbles or the gilli-danda or the cricket bat or the rubber ball .Finding any of these used to set us going and then there was no trace of us till lunch time when our mom or our sisters would come calling for us to have our mid day meals ! Well ,there were no cell phones to give a missed call or send an SMS !
Believe me , we were never tired. The eating of food used to be just a means of satisfying the parents -specifically our mom but the whole mind and attention was towards the other kids on ground wanting us back . After lunch the routine was no different as it was before lunch and back there were WE with our bellies full.
The rains or the summers ( there is hardly any winter effect in Mumbai) hardly mattered. At times, there used to be short lived phases of the kite flying season or the occassional bow and arrow feuds and fights after watching the epics - Ramayana and Mahabharata.
During weekends there used to be many guests at home - the aunts and the uncles, but the kids never used to be at home .All the kids would run to the ground with the usual hulla-bulla and play,fight & make merry .
Take a pause ! Do we see any of the above now . Atleast I dont !
When I see kids of the current generation , we find most of them so well behaved and mannered which is respectable.
The thing that intrigues me is all these kids are very well versed with all the latest games in the latest mobile phones or tablets or a gizmo.
Each kid has atleast 1 gadget and he ( also applies to she ) is so well accustomed to using it remarkably perfect , which ,to me ,would atleast take days to use it in the right way.
.Each one has a Facebook account ( their own or their parents's) and quite used to the social networking lingo's.
The sad part is all these kids are tied to their home .
They hardly play outdoor games .They don't come down .They have fixed time slots to play . Their activity during the vacation period needs to be planned by the parents ( who are most of the times so busy - dreaded with their own work).
Come on , guys give them a break. Let them enjoy.
The digital world will very much be available to them once they pass out of high school or college. But let them play - the real games on the ground . Don't make them sit at home and become a digital kid .
Tell them to make their parents proud by scoring 50 runs in an outdoor game of cricket and not by scoring a million points in a Subway Surfer game or a Car racing game .
Ciao.
This is my first blog and believe me , I am not at all a well versed reader neither a follower of blogs.
Trust you will all help me in my journey of blogging !
Well , this all started with a fine summer evening when a school friend of mine - Sushant bumped into me after a long time. We had not met for a good 2 years and decided to sit somewhere and sip on a cuppa to catch up on old times.
As the conversation progressed , I realized that his son - Vrushan had finished his school term for 1st standard and his summer vacation had started.
My friend was very keen to get Vrushan engaged in some form of activity since he (Vrushan) was getting quite bored at home.
Sushant had checked out quite a few music schools, guitar classes,swimming lessons ,chess tutors but somehow he found that none of these had interested Vrushan. Sushant was a bit worried !
The above discussions led me to our childhood memories when I remembered the times of our summer vacations . During those days , parents were not really so bothered about what will their children do after they finish their school term. In fact, they had no reason to be bothered.
Each day used to start with the morning routine chores and then a rapid search would start for the box of marbles or the gilli-danda or the cricket bat or the rubber ball .Finding any of these used to set us going and then there was no trace of us till lunch time when our mom or our sisters would come calling for us to have our mid day meals ! Well ,there were no cell phones to give a missed call or send an SMS !
Believe me , we were never tired. The eating of food used to be just a means of satisfying the parents -specifically our mom but the whole mind and attention was towards the other kids on ground wanting us back . After lunch the routine was no different as it was before lunch and back there were WE with our bellies full.
The rains or the summers ( there is hardly any winter effect in Mumbai) hardly mattered. At times, there used to be short lived phases of the kite flying season or the occassional bow and arrow feuds and fights after watching the epics - Ramayana and Mahabharata.
During weekends there used to be many guests at home - the aunts and the uncles, but the kids never used to be at home .All the kids would run to the ground with the usual hulla-bulla and play,fight & make merry .
Take a pause ! Do we see any of the above now . Atleast I dont !
When I see kids of the current generation , we find most of them so well behaved and mannered which is respectable.
The thing that intrigues me is all these kids are very well versed with all the latest games in the latest mobile phones or tablets or a gizmo.
Each kid has atleast 1 gadget and he ( also applies to she ) is so well accustomed to using it remarkably perfect , which ,to me ,would atleast take days to use it in the right way.
.Each one has a Facebook account ( their own or their parents's) and quite used to the social networking lingo's.
The sad part is all these kids are tied to their home .
They hardly play outdoor games .They don't come down .They have fixed time slots to play . Their activity during the vacation period needs to be planned by the parents ( who are most of the times so busy - dreaded with their own work).
Come on , guys give them a break. Let them enjoy.
The digital world will very much be available to them once they pass out of high school or college. But let them play - the real games on the ground . Don't make them sit at home and become a digital kid .
Tell them to make their parents proud by scoring 50 runs in an outdoor game of cricket and not by scoring a million points in a Subway Surfer game or a Car racing game .
Ciao.
