Thursday, May 28, 2009

Lucky Ducks!

Kids are darn lucky! Their biggest concern in this world is whether or not they would get another slice of that amazing chocolate cake. Any post that they ever receive is always good news - a letter from a friend, a greeting card, an invitation to a birthday party! They can run across the garden in their underwear, caring two hoots about what the neighbours might think of their chubby thighs. When kids are unwell, everything comes to a virtual halt except for mum and daytime television. They can find a coin on the pavement and feel rich; they can find a bone on the road and feel like Indiana Jones. The reason why kids are always so happy is because they put their heart and soul into everything they do. They live in the moment without any repentance of the past or worry for the future. In a sense, they are right- if we play, eat, cry and love the way kids do, time and money no longer hold any meaning.


Experienced, overheard, observed. Highly amused, slightly alarmed.

Our neighbour’s five-year old loves playing doctor. Maybe she is just intrigued by them, maybe all kids are, thinking they have supernatural powers – the way they just know when kids are faking a bad tummy-ache to get out of school. Or maybe they are just bad actors! But either way, I got to witness how kids try imitating older people around them and just how observant they are, when I was sitting over at their place a few days back. She sat behind a desk, looking sternly across the room, as if daring people to confront her with their health problems. The setup was complete – little chits of white paper uneven at the edges, thick glasses on her nose that kept slipping off at the drop of a hat, or a turn of the head, rather. A white dupatta on her shoulders probably compensated for not owning a white lab coat. Her first patient was her dad, who probably thought he’d humour her for a while.
 ‘I have a problem, Doc,’ he started.
 ‘Of course, why else would you be here,’ said the polite little brat.
 ‘Umm…‘
 ‘Yes, please, I have other customers waiting.’
 ‘My right arm has been hurting since yesterday.’
 ‘Oh, that’s all?’ She grabbed a pen. ‘Take amoxee … amockcy… err, four apples a day for two days. That will be Rs 50. And next time onwards, please come to me with a real problem, like cancer or heart attack or something, so that I make more money.’
 ‘Sure, my little well-wisher…’ I thought I heard him mutter.

15 comments:

Mohit Parikh said...

hahaha. tht was hilarious!!!

"Highly amused, slightly alarmed"
i guess innocence has its own style- it makes u laugh instinctively but on ur second thoughts teahces u smthng very imp. Like through our very own Gump.

by the by, where is the piece-in-black from?

adi the great !! said...

"sure my little well-wisher"!
great one!

Cheetah said...

Yeah i agree.. It is often not possible to live a life of happiness as well as a life of meaning.. We have to chose one of the two! Children choose a life of happiness as they don't have to bother about feeding themselves, their parents do that..

But when we grow we feel the need to be someone (a life of meaning), and when you have an ambition, you have to work hard and the path isn't always a path of happiness!

Swati Jain said...

Nice piece of work..

N who says tht only small kids observe ? You must hv observd dem wd depth thts y u hv written such a hilarious, n amazing post..

N u r ryt tht today's kids r much faster than us..Evn I hv cousins n I knw tht how fast d generation is leading..

J said...

rofl!
kids are fun to hang out with!
ah, those golden carefree days...miss them.
cheers!

Appy said...

@ Mohit - Gump was naive, yet so deep and he did teach a lot of people a lot of important lessons!
The piece in black is a figment of my imagination. Déjà vu? Don't know why!

@Adi - Thanks :)

Appy said...

@ Chinmay - You do have a point. As we become older, our opinions, our outlooks and our needs change. But we all have a kid within us, and we stifle the kid all the time, even when we could, and should, let him out. That is where we need to make the difference!

Appy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Appy said...

@ Swati - Yes, well they are a lot smarter than we were! And thats why the 'highly amused, and slightly alarmed' line was added :) Although I must confess I was more than just a tad alarmed.

@ J - They sure are! Thanks for dropping by!

himanshu said...

:)

nice

"They live in the moment without any repentance of the past or worry for the future."

Wish i will be able to do something like that again....

nice post

ankitminglani said...

oye that was sooo sweet :):)
just too cute :) small children are so good to watch :):)

:) :D

Adisha said...

ROFL .... You rocked this one babes.... I tell you ... Kids are the only people who know true Bliss .... Words out of the mouths of angels ... are always a pleausure for tired old ears ...

Cheers, thanks for sharing ... the sweetness of that smart little, naughty cutie pie

Apoorv said...

"thinking they have supernatural powers" ???

they abso-lewtly do!!

Appy said...

@ Himanshu - That is not possible, but you can always start afresh!

@ Ankit - Thanks :)

Appy said...

@ Adisha - Thanks, but tired old ears , really? ;)

@ Apoorv - When I say 'they', I mean doctors, when you say 'they', do you mean kids? Because kids do have a very strong sixth sense, Im just not sure if doctors do. I just think they are well-read.