Provoked

I had written this post on 16th January 2008. I don't even remember the post that triggered it.

It gets extreme posts like this and this and this to shake me out of slumber and write something on my blog. The basic premise of these posts is that children are nuisance to anyone who does not have children (and does not like them) and a child's presence (unless it is sitting silently or talking in whispers) is torturous to people-who-do-not-care-for-children. Equally irksome are parents who think the world of their children and can't stop fawning over them or talking about them. Among various remedies suggested are - keeping children out of public places unless they clearly specify that children are welcome, leaving them with babysitters (and working really hard and sincerely to find a babysitter; inability to find a good one is deemed a lame excuse) finding a group of like minded parents to hang out with and talk about their kids to heart's content etc. etc. You get the drift?

I feel disturbed reading these posts. Since when did this world become the property of adults with children becoming just a source of nuisance? They cannot voice, leave alone write clever English to, fight for their rights. Don't they have a right to venture out and experience all that there is to offer? Why should they be left with babysitters? To coexist in a society we have to develop a tolerance for many things. Don't children negotiate the dangers that the adults are continuously inflicting on them - poisonous air, vehicles that impede their free movement outside of home, buildings that have been built keeping only the adults in mind....the list could go on. And its not like these irksome creatures are in a minority. According to the 2001 census almost 30% of the Indian population is below the age of 14. They have a claim to this world too.

A child banging her spoon on a restaurant table is not doing it to irritate you or attract your attention. She is doing it as the sound and her ability to produce that sound not only fascinates her but is also teaching her many things about cause and effect, differences in sounds etc. Just like how the words you write in your post fascinate you and how.

I realize that I am unable to write a rational post on this. I have always likes children and now when I have a child of my own, such thinking just gets to me.