DID YOU FEEL IT TOO??!!

Mithas was talking animatedly to someone inside his room. He was telling him about the day’s happenings and was asking for advice. Well who was he talking to? His mom? His dad? His sibling? No, he was talking to sweet Bunny. His friend, caring brother and idol. Sweet Bunny is the imaginary character who provides all the emotional support Mithas needs and which hasn’t been given to him by his parents and others around. Mithas is the only son of his working parents. His father, a CEO, is home between 9pm and 9am, and his mother, a working executive, is home only post 6pm and leaves early at 8 am. They have arranged for a governess to take care of him, all of these factors have made him an introvert.
Many go through the experience of having an imaginary companion, be it a teddy bear that is forever there to give a big hug, or a pillow to talk to, and of course talking to the sky and so on so forth. It is quite amazing how and why children, teenagers and even adults see imaginary characters and relate to nonliving objects so intimately. Some of the reasons are very common to al the generations, loneliness and the feeling of being left out being the dominating ones. Most have friends, maybe good friends, but how many of them actually reveal everything about themselves to a particular person? Least of all their inhibitions about the other? Not many as they fear that they will offend their friend or bring a barrier between the two. Also the feeling that the other person might treat you differently, be it with more sympathy or look down on them, holds most back from opening themselves up.
In the case of Mithas, it was predominantly loneliness coupled with the want of love and care. He missed his parents and the things families did with each other. He was always pampered with toys, games, chocolates and so on. They thought that if he had most of these materialistic things he won’t miss them or their presence. But the yearning one has for a parent can only be felt and barely expressed, the closest one can get to describing it is, it is the feeling one gets while dropping from a great height and trying to grab on to something to break the fall. Mithas didn’t have many friends in school, even though he was exceptionally brilliant and talented. Those around him always used him and were what one can call “paper” friends. He had very few close friends, but was scared to open up as he didn’t want to be sympathised and pitied by them. They were the people he dint want to lose as he valued them very highly in his life.
Sweet Bunny ‘emerged’ into his life when he was in one of his ‘down’ moods. He had just watched Space Jam, the movie, and with Bugs Bunny being a big favourite, it struck him subconsciously. He woke up in the morning and found the bunny, with big ears and a squeaky voice, next to him. He was overjoyed to when he realized that he had a companion. He would fool around with him; pour his heart out to him, about girls, his feelings with regards to his studies and school. Here, Bunny helped him out. Basically it was his inner voice, his second being and the environment around coupled with his observations that had created this being.
In reality Mithas was dealing with the world on his own but thought it was the Bunny who solved the problems. The bunny was able to help him with his problems and made him shed his inhibitions. He became more confident about himself, and about dealing with life. In the course of time Mithas reached a stage where he had no more problems and started dealing with whatever cropped up on his own, which led to the fading of the Bunny. It was his creation and his sub conscious got rid of it eventually.
In the case of some children there may not be a Bunny but an Angelica. This figure has a resentful look at the world and this damages the child’s psyche. By the time he grows up, he would be full of hate and show antipathy towards everyone and everything. He would be a wreck and carnage around him with Angelica around for ever. It takes something dramatic to change this outlook.
The creation of these imaginary characters can be stopped and curbed if care is taken to ensure that no child is left on his own, feeling lonely and unwanted. Parents will have to play the central role, but it’s impossible to accomplish the job on their own in today’s world of nuclear families and work environment. The others around, like relatives and teachers, and the friends should be instrumental in moulding the life of the child. Playing pranks and teasing a person is one thing, while practical jokes and ridicule that cause a deep psychological impact and demoralization just because of jealousy or an ego clash is quiet another. A person should try not to inflict any hurt upon another, intentional or unintentional and if it happens, should own up and apologize. Not many remember the people who cracked jokes in the class, but those who caused pain and laughed at the other with condescension are always remembered.


“Take lives into your palms, feel it, hear it, then let it melt into you”

*Note: This post may seem like a semblance to the movie Doni Darko, but I have never seen the movie, hence I have not been inspired :D

would you play with me???!!!!!

“Life is like a box of chocolates”, was what Tom Hanks says in Forest Gump, but for how many of us? Many of us have the brainpower to decipher everything exactly about the person standing in front of us, try to analyse him to the best of our ability and then pass a judgement on them.
And if we dint have the mental capacity, we would not have been able to do the above basic functions. Though not many of realise, but there are a lot of people in the world who don’t even have this basic ability and never grow up.


Yeah it is sure said that not being able to grow up is a boon and that every person has a child in his heart who never grows up, but not being to grow up at all is not a boon, it could prove to be a nightmare if one is not taken care of by the right kind of people.
Many of us would have seen if not interacted with these special children who never grow up because God wishes so. Around the world these special children are also recognized as being ‘mentally challenged’. The very thought that someone has to spend his life like that is very sad. For the very few whose parents can afford to take good care, there is some consolation, but for the rest the picture is not so bright. This is a problem which affects children belonging to all sections of the society. To be a parent of such a child is really heartbreaking.


To know that your daughter/son will never grow up and will not be able to live a normal life can break even the mightiest of them all. When you meet any special ‘child’ you are taken over by their innocence and curiosity. The way they react joyously when you give them something they like and when they are annoyed when they don’t get what they want or are given something of their dislike, is really touching, but they don’t have any prejudice attached to our actions. Like any small child does as soon as we say or do something nice they come back to us. Would you and I react the same way?? Even at our age?


The paradise of innocence lasts only for a small portion of a life but still the special ones’ have this imbibed in them. The child usually lives in his own world but is not able to comprehend why others shun him or why they don’t play with him and make fun of him .For the parents it is a very tough thing to handle. To try to make their child understand that it is not his fault and to be able to get him something as simple as play mate is difficult because of the very fact that some parents don’t like to see their kids or children mix with these children. Some are even thought of as being mad. When such a child comes to you, one doesn’t have an idea about how to be with the child. Most of us are apprehensive and don’t interact much, but what we don’t realise that what the child is looking is for is just a little company from a new person who could turn out to be among the very few playmates he has. If one makes a little effort to smile at the child the joy we would be giving the child will be more than what joy we get from seeing the child smile back.


“To make someone cry isn’t tough, but to make them smile sure is!”


One should try to be as considerate to all special people around us, no matter who or how they are, and act as nicely and joyously as one would with a small child. The more we try to improve our response towards others the more we can do towards improving the world around, not only in the humane aspect but all aspects of life. Though sensitivity and acceptance of the deprived and social outcasts is better, there is a lot a person can do to bring about a radical change in this social fabric and treat one and all equal irrespective of our mental, physical or economical capabilities .There are many people in this world who are suffering for no fault of theirs’ like children who are directly or indirectly affected by HIV and have no future because of someone else’s mistake. On the other extreme are senior citizens leading a refugee’s life in old age homes and passing away their existence in loneliness’ and depression. One step towards a change in attitude towards the young and the old would not only change their lives but ours too as even we have to go through it at the fag end of our life and if we don’t take action we will be at the receiving end. Let us hope that we can at least bear the fruits of the sapling we plant & nurture.


“ Noble blood is an accident of fortune ; noble actions characterise the great”- Goldini.


“To provide warmth to an Eskimo is like a drop in an ocean when compared to warming up the heart of a child”