Govt. humours MPs-may ban all text toons

          A humble letter from a teenager

Dear politicians,

I write this letter as an 18 year old teenager who has read those Civics books in school that have stirred a hornet’s nest in the parliament. Civics is a subject which is far from favourite for a large number of students. The vast amount of theory that has to be mugged up makes it a very dreadful subject. But thanks to the NCERT advisors who came up with the innovative idea of introducing cartoons in textbooks to make them more interactive.

I remember whenever I got bored of reading a chapter I used to flip through the pages, glance at those cartoons and have a chuckle. Contrary to politicians who scrutinized and analyzed a cartoon, as if it was India’s foreign policy and tried figuring out who exactly is being whipped in the cartoon-the snail or Dr.Ambedkar.

Yogendra Yadav, one of the NCERT advisors of these textbooks said in a news show that there was an article in the New York Times which mentioned that these books were a symbol of the fact that Indian democracy has gained a level of maturity. I am sorry to say but thanks to our politicians, now it’s been proved all wrong.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, “Cartoons are for mature minds: not for children”. This brings me to a question-If these children are not being considered mature enough to understand even simple political cartoons at the age of 16 or 17,how exactly are they expected to vote at the age of 18 and decide which politicians should lead the country.

Seems like  Mamta Banerjee had set an ideal precedent for all politicians by reacting fiercely to an innocuous cartoon.If this is the kind of ‘poriborton’ that India is moving forward to, I would say-God bless our country!

Anyway, cartoons or no cartoons today teenagers in India do not think very highly of politicians. Not to mention the rampant corruption and viewing of pornographic videos inside the parliament. Stopping the distribution of these textbooks has erased even those residual hopes that one day teenagers in India will look up to the politicians and say, “I feel proud that people like these lead India”.

Yours sincerely,

A student

P.S.-I wish when this letter finds you, you will be debating over serious issues like the 70,000 tons of wheat rotting in the open(even as millions go hungry to sleep)and not over petty cartoons.

The Norway kids come back to India

                     

Few days ago my brother had come home for a week's holiday from his college.As he packed his stuff on the last day,my mother started loading his bag with as much eatables as she could.She had this desperate look of concern on her face as if her son was going to a famine struck city.After she was done with the home-made items she moved on to the ready-made ones.That's when my brother had to remind her that he could buy those things from shops too.

He helplessly tried to explain her that he was not being malnourished at his hostel,but to no avail.I was busy laughing at the whole 'typical Indian mom' scene when a thought faded  away my smile.

If my mother was so anxious about her 23 year old son going away(despite knowing that he will be back again in two months)how harrowing it must have been for the Bhattacharya parents in Norway who have been away from 1 year old Aishwarya and 3 year old Abhigyan for such a long time.

When the toddlers arrived with their uncle and Norwegian foster parents on 24 April there was an atmosphere of euphoria all around.The trauma and ordeals that Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya have gone through for almost a year are every parent's worst nightmares.

I don't  know what it feels like to be a parent but this episode reminded me of a few past incidents.

Last year when I went to pathology,among the several people who had come there for various kinds of tests was a 3 year old girl who had just been injected for a blood test.She now sat on her mother's lap wailing with all her might.After a while her plight and cries not only brought tears to her mother's eyes but to a few others sitting in the room too.

My 'Mama'(mother's brother)is one of the most emotionally strong people I have ever known.When his 2 year old son accidentally got his thumb pressed between a door and got gravely injured,that was the first time I saw tears in my Mama's eyes.

As I gear up for entrance examinations of colleges in cities other than the one in which my parents live,I can sense their anxiety.They have always tried to keep me safe and secure in the cocoon that they have created around me.And now the thought of sending their daughter to an unknown city is beginning to frighten them.But till then I  am just glad that I live in India and not Norway and I thank God for reuniting those kids with their family again.