Terrorism and children
By: Subhadeep Bhattacharjee
The other day I was talking over the phone to my 5 year old nephew and he asked me “Mama Taj Hotel dekhecho?” (Uncle did you watch the carnage at Taj Hotel) Trying to act innocent I asked him what had happened there and he replied “Jongi ra ashechilo are hotel pure geche” (Terrorists came and the hotel was up i
n flames). For a moment I was stunned as a five year old toddler was talking about the carnage which would obviously affect his innocent mind.
The other day I was talking over the phone to my 5 year old nephew and he asked me “Mama Taj Hotel dekhecho?” (Uncle did you watch the carnage at Taj Hotel) Trying to act innocent I asked him what had happened there and he replied “Jongi ra ashechilo are hotel pure geche” (Terrorists came and the hotel was up i
n flames). For a moment I was stunned as a five year old toddler was talking about the carnage which would obviously affect his innocent mind.By the time I gathered myself back he was back with his question and asked me where did these people come from and why did they do all this. I said I don't know not because telling him the name Pakistan would not make sense to him, but I did not want to pollute his mind and give him the first dose of the Anti-Pakistan pill. People sitting across the border can pass on the same venom to their children. Of course he needs to know history, he needs to understand what goes on between India and Pakistan but all that has to wait for the day when he can judge all that himself.
I just told him they were bad people and they were punished by the police (He won't understand what army or an NSG commando is). I was worried with the entire episode as it might leave a lasting impression on his young mind. He watches Tom and Jerry and Takeshi's Castle everyday but never felt like discussing it with me. When the talk of the town is terror strikes and everyone in the house is glued to the television the children also are affected by these images.I just wondered whether the media had a role to play in this. To some extent they sensationalised the entire episode and created a hype to gain TRPs. True we need to be reported but operational details of the security forces and dead bodies could have been left out. At 24 I am considered to be the youth of this country and at 5 my nephew is the future. What is the world he will inherit when he is 24 like me? What is the world we want to give him once he is 24? I just wish I had some answers to it but alas I am once again a commoner.
4 comments:
True..true...
but to some extent I feel the children knowing the immediate ambience around them has been necessitated.They r to live and work fr dis country..better to be acquainted wid realities frm an early age...and kids nowadays r notches smarter then before..dat is apparently da reason.
I agree with you that children should me made to understand this global problem but at 5 anybody is too young mythologically we believe at 5 a child becomes a human before that he is god
Y speak mythology in da real world??How can we ever ascertain wats young and wats not??
Is coming of age related to ur mind and comprehension..or da abstract sense of blossoming and attainment of puberty??
I don't deny that there is truth in your argument but just that in this particular case he is too young. And brain washing anyone right from the tender age is never good. I still feel ofended when someone refers to be as Dkhar in Shillong but again unless the people preaching their children change their mind this thing will remain. Hope you get my point
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