Jab hum bachche the...

Tomorrow is November 14^th. The day that the school Principal glumly hailed as the day the children could wear ‘colour dress’ to school. The day (for being a colour dress day) primary students were excited about and adolescent high schoolers distressed. The former was thrilled about showing off and the latter anguished over ‘what to wear’.

Because it’s Children’s day, I thought I would share some innocent misconceptions I had as a child, long before hitting the ‘confused teen’ phase.

Baldilocks
My father has had a bald patch from as long as I can remember. All through my childhood years it was the size of a kiddie burger (my mother recalls that it was a 50 paisa coin’ size during their wedding). I used to think that it was a cute hairstyle many men my father’s age sported! That they specifically asked the barber to get that ‘bald’ look! I don’t remember when I realised that it wasn’t so, but I don’t mind baldness in men, when they have the confidence to flaunt it. Guess it comes from the thought that it is a ‘hairstyle’! ;)

Cute Chicks

I am a chicken lover. NOT the way I am a dog lover. I just love chicken on my plate. As children we have all owned illustrated books with the names of things. My particularly favourite illustrations were those of ‘Puppy’, ‘Lotus’, and ‘Chick’ (hatching from an egg). And perhaps that was why I thought that it was cooked chicks that were served in chicken dishes. And though I found the illustrated chicks cute (including the real ones I saw at my grandparents’ place), I never felt sorry for their plight of landing into cooking pots so early in life. I used to think, ‘wow, they taste just as good as they look!’ Back then, I had no inkling that the word ‘chick’ also referred to an entirely different species...

The Bhopal Tragedy
No, not about Union Carbide. We were travelling by train, a three day journey from UP to Kerala. There was a Malayali chap in our compartment who soon got friendly with us. At that age, I was a chatterbox, even around strangers. So when the train halted at Bhopal, I exclaimed, ‘Papa, look, the people of Bhopal are so fair!’ ‘Look uncle!’ I said, including the mallu chap in my ground breaking discovery. The guy looked and burst out laughing. My father laughed too, at my innocence or stupidity I cannot tell, but he said, ‘They are westerners’, ‘foreigners’, he added for my understanding. I looked closely. Fair hair, strange clothes, baggage even a well-built porter couldn’t carry around, strapped to their backs. I don’t know if that was the first time I was seeing ‘foreigners’ but I definitely remember feeling stupid.

Live Telecast

Doordarshan used to go all vertical rainbow style in between a show and announce, ‘Rukavat ke liye khed hai’. I used to think it happened because the artistes were tired and decided to take a break. My sister teased the hell out of me when one day during a ‘Rukavat’ I exclaimed, ‘Oh no! They have gone to have tea again!’. She explained after an hour of laughing and ‘Aiyye, aiyye- ing’ that it was all shot earlier.

I am sure I will get more if I jog my memory. But some misconceptions I had are far too awkward and embarrassing to be put into words. So I will let it rest at that. Mean while, do share your childhood innocence aka stupidity stories in the comment box. And never ever suppress the childlike innocence, love, silliness, joy, inquisitiveness, creativity, and sense of adventure in you!

A very happy children’s day to you all! J

And that's one of the most special pics of my 6 month old nephew. The pic was taken when he was just a day old. He's the guy who is teaching me to be a child, no, baby, all over again!