The world of the child

What does it mean to be a grown up for a child ? Becoming a doctor, engineer or the old favorite pilot ?

If you are three years old it can be quite different. Take my son Sanjiv for instance. “When I become big, I will be able to put my hands inside the plug points, he says.This is because all of us at home do not allow him to go anywhere near the plug points. His other favourite refrain is, “When I become big I can open the medicine box”. My father who is a heart patient has to take a lot of medicines every day. All of us at home have expressly forbidden Sanjiv from touching the box containing medicines. Child that he is he does not realize that having to take so many medicines are really a curse and not a source of joy as he imagines.

His other aspiration is a little more in line with that of ordinary mortals. He wants to drive a car except that for this one he doesn’t want to wait till he grows up but do it immediately. For a start, whenever we hire a car for long distance travel he wants to sit next to the driver. That is because we don’t allow him to sit on the driver’s seat and get behind the wheel straight away. Nevertheless at the end of each journey, he insists that he sit behind the wheel and pretend to drive. Child that he is he does not see the Mumbai traffic and the attendant problems but only the joy associated with driving.

The world of the adult and the child are quite divergent. Many things that adults see as a problem is a source of joy to the child. Perceptions obviously change as children first metamorphose into adolescents and then adults. All of us would however be a lot more happier in life if only we could retain a bit of the child.