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I dont have any kids but this is something I feel very strongly about....the insane way in which kids are brought up nowadays. Firstly, I dont like the way they are hopelessly pampered nowadays and I don't like the way they are "made" to study.

Sample this...I see kids in class V going for 3 hour tuitions after getting back from school. This is madness...I don't think this helps them in anyway. At this age, kids should be going out and playing after coming back from school..after finishing their homework of course. Sending them for tuitions is only going to make them dependent on others and is going to stifle their curiosity and thinking process. Well, I think everyone knows that but no one really cares about it. Curiosity - you don't get marks for it do you?

I think the whole world is conspiring against kids nowadays...no one wants them to play anymore. Our home in Delhi has (or used to have) 8-10 parks nearby. Now, 3 of them have been converted into multi-storeyed temples, 1 into a gurudwara, 1 into church....the list goes on. The ones that are left have been cornered by the oldies. Yeah the oldies...they congregrate into the parks in the evenings and won't let any kids play cricket lest the ball hit them. Of course they refuse to budge from where they are sitting to a different part of the park. Everyone ranging from religious fanatics to oldies have hit upon this great idea...kids don't speak up so let's grab their parks. Well...go home kids...it's not your park any more.

Don't get me wrong...today's parents and grandparents love their kids as they have always done...they are just scared. Scared that their kid will be left behind. Scared that their kid won't make it big. There are fewer kids per families now..1 or 2 per couple compared to 3-4 a few years back..so maybe that has something to do with it. But the solution everyone has hit upon is - let's throw money on them and lets put them in tuitions. Today's parents go all out to make sure that their kid has the best of everything...and the kids grow up thinking they are the center of the universe. No wonder, today's kids are so boisterous.

There is an article I ran into in mint a few days back....Here's an excerpt: "While crossing the border into Delhi’s suburb of Noida, I noticed a massive hoarding for the Millennium School: “Our school has just one child — yours.” Clever, I thought. Until I realized the implication. Already our kids think they are at the centre of the universe, between parents, grandparents, maids and guilty give-ins. Shouldn’t school serve as a place to humble and socialize, to mix with many different kinds?"

I couldn't agree more. I would rather raise my kids with humility, curiosity and lots of play time...and let things run their natural course. There is one role model I can hopefully try to emulate...Atticus in To Kill A Mockingbird.