Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Traumatised by Hon'ble Shri Raj Thackeray



There were signs but I didn't realise how seriously affected my little 5 year old has been by Mr Raj Thackeray's actions.

His anti-North Indian rhetoric hadn't filtered down to our young ones for obvious reasons. I mean, we do discuss politics at home, but this was way below 'dirty politics' and deserved no mention at the Dining Table for sure. Why kill your appetite over such despicable and simply pathetic individuals?

But then, one day in early November, my children learnt the name Raj Thackeray. Their school picnics were cancelled one morning owing to incidences of bus burning and stone pelting in Pune, although for the umpteenth time since Thackeray began his tirade, for the first time for my children who took prompt notice of him.

As my son stormed back, despatched home by the class teacher, with the picnic goodies untouched in his bag, unhappy over the cancellation, he exclaimed loudly, "Mama, my picnic has been cancelled because Raj Thackeray is burning buses."

Clearly, the teachers may have been discussing the ramifications of taking the children for a picnic while 'buses' in the city 'burned' due to 'Raj Thackeray', the little one it seems, only picked the key words!

The cancellation of his picnic was related to everyone. Calls were made to the grandparents in far off Kerala to tell them why the picnic was cancelled. "Raj Thackeray is burning buses" became a common refrain for my heart broken kids until the picnic was eventually planned after a fortnight.

In the mean time, his older sister had shown him photographs of the notorious gentleman!

The second time we heard the name was during the terror attack in Mumbai on 26/11 as we sat glued to the laptop watching the proceedings LIVE on NDTV.

Anger gave way to consternation and shock. One evening over dinner, the hubby said, "I wonder where Raj Thackeray is now. Will he or his men come to the aid of Mumbai?"

While I nodded my head, a small voice exclaimed, "Papa, Raj Thackeray cannot come to help Mumbai. He is busy burning buses na..."

We laughed over what seemed funny to us, but the little fellow was in no mood for humour as his eyes remained glued to the screen watching the scenes of devastation.

The third time I heard the reference to Raj Thackeray has actually left me stumped.

We were taking a short beach vacation with friends. After long hours of splashing in the water, he came back to the shore. We sat together and started making sand castles when he startled me with, "Mama, I saw Raj Thackeray."

"Hmmm... Really? Where was he?"

"He was in the water, playing with the ball."

I recalled a guy playing with a ball quite close to us in the water. I must admit, the resemblance was a bit uncanny... But....

"Mama, he forgot his glasses at home."

BOING!!!! Yup...the man I saw was not wearing glasses!

My son seems to have been traumatised by Mr Raj Thackeray himself. What am I to do? Any words of advise?



11 comments:

Aathira Nair said...

That is indeed very sad Ritu.

I mean he is unknowingly so involved in this whole Raj Thackeray bit. This guy's name doesn't deserve to be on the lips of a 5 year old.

Arunima said...

oh God, I have no answer to this.

Came to wish you a happy new year.

The Seeker said...

Its kind of depressing!! This is what the media does to the kids.. Ritu chechi!!! It is the duty of the parents to be a protective shield against the bad influence on the kids... Actually there are many other good samaritan who have helped people in the times of distress, the NSG commandos and the rescuers. They can be taught and shown as the real heroes. The so-called politicians and fanatics like Thackerey shouldnt be any kind of models for Kids...

And don't worry!!! Sure He would forget it! but make sure that he doesn't just remember bad events and incidents like this...

Young minds should be given proper answers and re-assurances at the most needed times...

Take care!! wish you a very happy and a prosperous new year!!!!

Unknown said...

Hey Aathira, I so agree with you. Hopefully with the passage of time he will forget...

Hey Arunima, Wish you a very Happy New Year too...

Hey Barath, We've been trying all the stuff you've written... Never wanted our kids to know the world of bad people that exists out there coz that is something they will find out for themselves one day..and yet...

Will take care...thank you for your words of wisdom..

Unknown said...

Happy new year.
How much kids get affected by these thoughtless actions by the so called leaders. Mama would have enjoyed this talk. Give him a BIG hug.

SS said...

Hey, I just landed on your blog through PS's blog. Really liked your posts and looks like I am going to be visiting again :) Just wanted to let you know.

AmitL said...

Hello,Rituji!:)Happy New Year!
Whew-the little one really seems to pick up the keywords pretty well...words of advice?Let him watch Tom & Jerry a bit more!!:)Guess which one he'll corelate with Mr. RT?

author_number_2 said...

wow! raj thackeray strikes again! this time among kids. no wonder its our media's hype given to a ridiculous individual. i don't even dare say he's a leader

Unknown said...

Hi didi: I know!! 'So called leaders' is so right!!!

Hi SS: Thank u for dropping by...and I look forward to more of ur visits..

Hey Amit: Ha ha... I can only take a guess too...!!!

Hey Dolphin: Welcome to Vivify! I agree with you... There seems to be absolutely no responsibility by either the media or 'our leaders'... I hope the man has learnt his lesson....

Das said...

He seems 3 b a joker who needs no sympathy or favour. He is up2 it again in Pune. Gosh, when will people learn 2 behave and respect one another just as one loves 2 b loved and respected by others? He behaves like a maniac-self centered, egoistic, selfish, ruthless and scant regard 4 human and public lives. Do u think such elements should be encouraged and protected? Sorry 4 this long thought. Just could not control myself.

Unknown said...

Hi Jayaram: I agree with every word...