1.Ray of Hope 2.Game On

Raja, Thimma and Jaggu are returning from the fields in the evening. There was eagerness in their steps. They had finished the work very much in advance. Jaggu buys a bundle of beedis (poor man’s cigarette) and match box for the drama master Ramayya. These three and others, who are part of drama to be played, are now stars in the village.

In the whole village, the drama was the headline in everybody’s thoughts, words. Everybody waited for the evening, for the practice to start. Children are running around, playing and imitating the dialogues, actions of this drama, which is based on Mahabharatha. All know up to what stage it has come now, which dialogue is the last one. When Thimma fell sick all prayed for his fast recovery.

Enters the age of cable TVs, now for last five years no drama was practiced. Everyone is busy watching serials and crime stories. Although some programmes like crime story are never meant for children, parents are not bothered even if they see it.

Group of five children are playing together. One boy who watched a gang war report in crime story the previous day is the leader of today’s play. He is explaining others how the first group was chasing the other in Bangalore. How they hacked when they actually caught them. Since the children did not have weapons, they were holding wooden sticks. Elders are not bothered about this imitation; they are too busy to worry about future of this future generation.


Now with so many play groups, there is a RAY OF HOPE in the creative fields. Most of them have people who are amateurs, who are never worried about commerce or mathematics of personal gain. With the revival of these fields, they are shifting the focus of the viewers from MIND TO HEART.

Game On:

Puttu is boy of age twelve. As soon as he comes from school he has to play a computer game. In that game he has to kill at least five people. After this only he will have his food. His parents are working in highly stressful IT industry. They never bother about this aspect of his life. They get him whatever he wants.

His teacher asks him what he did for his birthday. He says his dad gave him 2500 Rupees. He took his friends for movie and later had dinner at a good hotel. The teacher’s observation is that he is very stubborn. He has an attitude problem; he wants whatever he wishes for then and there.

I met this teacher; she is worried about children like Puttu. She concluded that to cover the guilt, that parents have for not giving enough time to kids they pamper them like this. She observed a remarkable difference in kids who come from baby sitting (play home) backgrounds. They are impatient.

There are few internet cafes, near to my home. There most of the times it’s filled with children playing computer games. A friend of mine whose parents never gave him required time and attention during his childhood says he does not feel like respecting them. He feels he does not owe them anything. He is ready to give them some money every month, which they don’t need. The time and love he says he can’t as he has not got them.

The Japanese Philosopher, Buddhist thinker Dr.Daisaku Ikeda (whom I consider my mentor in life), coined a term called “Glass Children”. It means that they do not have toughness to stand failures or setbacks.

Puttu is sad not because his best friend was wounded today at school, but because his PC is crashed. He can’t play his game for few more days and therefore he can’t kill those guys in the game. So in his thoughts now the GAME IS ON.