The Devolution

She would hold my hand and take me out everyday. We would go around the dusty city streets reveling in our companionship. If I behaved nicely, I would most certainly be rewarded with knick knacks like plastic balls or a set of crayons.....Aah I would so yearn for that 1 hour with my mom after school. Those were the carefree kindergarten days when I was living the illusion that all humans are luckiest to be born as humans......
It was the pre liberalisation era in India when poverty was ubiquitous (well it still is but veneered by false optimism) and people's purchasing power scornable. Our family, living in a one room flat was no exception. However, the modest upbringing that my parents could offer never shaped our relationship. To be honest that was the closest I was ever to my parents...........

Seasons changed and governmnets toppled. Weathering umpteenth scams, scandals riots and goofs India still somehow managed to become an economic superpower (yeah...thats the word we Indians love to use...superpower ;)) and living standards rose miraculously. Unlike yesteryears you did not have to be hardened in sin to own a car or know a politician to watch colour TV. India is doing well economically and so did my folks. Mom draws a respectable salary which when pooled with dad's take home can buy most of the latest electronic gadgets. I have a job of my own which is making me age faster than I should. However, something must have gone terribly wrong......WE HARDLY TALK NOW.

Was it the constant nagging and prodding to compete with the neigbour's son or was it the incessant advises of my parent's guests regarding my career? Was it the mom's colleague who teaches History in her college and who so feverishly advised me to pursue engineering or was it my dad's refusal to take me out anywhere with him when I could not top in my class?

Somthing did go wrong. And it was not just in my family, every home has the same story. Parents so conveniently compare their kids with the neighbour's but alas the vice versa never happens. There seems to be a madness spread everywhere like a wild fire. Everyone wants to be rich and successful. Every kid has to be a viz kid....atleast better than the neighbour's kid. The only topic moms are left with to discuss is the grade sheet of their sons/daughters. The number of zeros in the paycheck of a graduating daughter makes a dad ecsatatic. Thats what globalization and liberalization has done to India. It has transformed our kids into racing horses. they have to be profitable.
Among all this brauhaha and chaos I sometimes see a small kid holding his mom's hand walking on the dusty streets frolicking and revelling in her company..............