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Tuesday, December 25, 2012

The hunter and the thread

                                                                I  remember  long ago  i read  in tinkle comics  about a little boy  who was seen outside a  toy shop  .  On enquiry  by two passersby  "Where are your parents  ? "  . He  replied  "They are busy playing inside  "   .  These days  the "toys" are so sophisticated that you really  cant blame the  parent  or  the uncle  ( in my case  )   to  be busy inside the  toyshop  "selecting "  the toys for them  or  honestly speaking  playing inside with the  hi-fi toys  inside the toyshop  .

Yesterday  went to select two  toys for my twin nephews  and found out that selecting a  toy for kids these days is no easy job .  Add to that  many of them these days  have many of those toys  and what we find amusing may not get even a casual glance from them  .  To make a long story short  i finally bought them a small toy each and  made the main purchase of two cute dresses  .

                      . As expected they played with the toys  for  around one hour and when the novelty factor worn off they were back to their games  .  The house is literally full of toys but it was really curious to watch them play .  The paradox was they were not playing with all the available toys but a small paper rose and a long piece of thread .  They were playing with these simple things for hours on end without any boredom .  Around 7 years old and above average intelligence and already seen the toys including computer games it was a paradox to watch them play with a simple piece of thread and a paper rose . Apparently they were imagining them as making a trap to catch us and make them into their pets . The cost of this toy was less than 10 rupees  ?  And the main factor which helped them into this great game was their imagination which children have no dearth of  .

Fast backward my childhood . I was lucky enough to have a dad who owned a toy shop and all the latest toys were in the house whenever they were released . Of course i loved my beautiful trainsets , the mechano sets , the doctors sets etc .... but there was one thing other than my endless cycling that thrilled me for hours  .  It was a simple bow and arrow made out of sticks as crude it can be  and i used to roam about our large backyard . (Around an acre )  .  It was full of greenery and with large trees and i was supposed to be a big hunter there .  A simple toy and large imagination.

Of course i am not telling we should stop buying the toys especially the hi-tech ones but in addition even in this digital age the crude toys are as relevant . Does these children have any message for the bmw flaunting adults who sometimes even live beyond their means for these large toys   ??  Or are present day kids more mature and giving us a message  ... I think yes .. observe them and learn from them ...

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