Article in DNA, July 6, 06
Bachcha samjha kyaa?
A mother's tale of woes in a world of ads
Advertising is making life really difficult for mothers these days!
The other day, my son enthusiastically explained to me the structure of the new Adidas football. And added details of the shop where it was available, including timings. It costs only Rs 1500 he said, and could I please get him one. Though I must say he was nice enough to add that there was no immediate hurry, we could go on Saturday (which was a good 48 hours away).
FIF-teen hundred rupees for a ball? We don’t have THAT kind of money I explained. It’s just not possible.
“Impossible is nothing” he says.
Even his grammar has gone for a toss. He now says, “good was not lunch” instead of “lunch was not good”. And adyamts (AllDayYouAskMeTo Study) and adidabwmf. (That took me a while but when a bunch of his friends walked in to spend the day, I got it – AllDayIDreamAboutBeingWithMyFriends).
A mother of a toddler had the same complaint. Her son saw her saying “how sweet” when she saw the Junior Horlicks commercial. Now he thinks that’s what she will say when HIS food disappears too. FINISHED!!! Says the MOTHER! The problem is, not only all the milk and soup but even the Horlicks goes into the fish tank! The fish are now growing fast and furious… any day they will jump out singing epang opang.
Like the boy in the Boost ad, all kids are now asking “bachcha samjha kyaa?” Frankly, I don’t samjho anything any more. Talk about chocolates spoiling their teeth, and they have Dishum Dishum. Complain about their cricket whites, and they have Daag Achche Hain. Holi or no holi, if they want Alpenliebe, they will now go to any uncle and put out their hand. And of course the argument on TV viewing was closed a long time ago when we all switched to Golden Eye technology.
Whatever happened to that sweet Complan boy who took his mother on his cycle? And those children who ate everything Mummy made and said mmmmm. They were happy to jump around screen-filling purees and jalebis, and bring home nice report cards and sports cups. And even ribbons round their neck with medals. And they thought their daddy was the strongest. They never said “impossible is nothing”.
All mothers are saying the same thing – that it is becoming very difficult to bring up “good children” these days. Because, thanks to advertising, it is now fun to be bad!
It seems, in another home, the teenage daughter cheekily asked the grandmother if she could fix her up with her friend’s grandfather. Adding, that her father would buy her a watch for it! And before you could say pogo, the grandmother had giggled and said, “I’m loving it”.
Suddenly, I noticed Dhoni on TV. Ah ha! My turn, I thought. Why can’t you drink eight glasses of milk a day, I challenged. And if you must be out on the streets all day with your friends, can’t you all at least sweep the streets clean? Or you could enter that Rin contest too, and be a star. Or at least be a Britannia Child Genius? I was on a roll…
Unfortunately, just then came Hari Sadu. And from the spreading grin on all our faces, I knew the whole family was on its way to having fun with MY name. M for mad, Y for yelling, T for…
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