Escalation of Commitment - In Love -

Falling in love is such a heady, euphoric feeling. Can anything feel better than the rush of adrenaline that hits you each time you set your eyes upon "the one", the way your heart alternates between racing and skipping a beat, and those tiny explosions of excitement in the pit of your tummy? Rarely does anything else make life seem so beautiful. You're more cheerful, more positive, more energetic, and some studies say that love can even lessen physical pain. Sounds like the perfect  Remedy.

All's great about love, except for one thing. It tends to erode one's ability to think rationally. Often, people get so carried away with the positive rush they're experiencing, that they forget to pay timely heed to red flags. Ignoring these evident warning signs in the initial stages of a relationship can lead to trouble later on.

You might argue that relationships are all about compromise, about give and take. They are. But what if you're the only one giving, and not getting in return? That's when your senses need to alert you, and you need to wake up and move out. Because being in a relationship with someone who is unable or unwilling to offer you fulfillment can really play havoc with your happiness and peace of mind.

There are certain kinds of folks you should steer clear of the minute you find out what they're like. For example, unavailable people who are rarely there for you when it matters (commitment phobes, mama's boys, attached people, extreme workaholics, etc.); manipulative, controlling or abusive people; indecisive and irresponsible people who find it hard to take a stand; habitual liars; promiscuous people; chronic whiners and pessimists; people who lack foresight and good judgment... the list goes on. It is also wise to steer clear of people whose thinking and outlook are quite different from yours; they might be very nice, but you are unlikely to be compatible together.

A well wisher will always advise you keep your eyes wide open so you can spot potentially problematic traits in time, but it is also said that love makes people blind. Thinking rationally when you're overcome with emotions is always easier said than done. Of course, it would be ideal if you could detach yourself and move away the moment you see red flags starting to pop up. But that doesn't usually happen because infatuation erodes logic, and so people find themselves knee deep in a quagmire of negativity and disappointment, unable to make up their minds as to whether to leave or stay.

That's where the concept of "Escalation of Commitment" comes in. A common business management term, it refers to the compulsion to continue investing money, time and resources in a losing proposition, because you've already invested so much in it and all that investment will go to waste if you give up now. So you keep on investing more and more in the hope that the next bit you put in will turn the proposition into a winning one!

Read the definition carefully, does it not strike you that the same concept can also apply to relationships? Have you not seen this happening to so many people in less-than-happy relationships, who are constantly grappling with the big question "Should I stay or should I go?", but are unable to let go because they've already invested so much of their precious time, energy, and emotion in that relationship?

When we spend a considerable amount of time with someone who isn't making us happy, it becomes hard to let go and easy to rationalize the lack of fulfillment. We remain in denial and are afraid to let go, to give up something that we've put so much effort into. It's human nature to not want to waste. We keep thinking that if we invest just a bit more, we can turn the situation around; but if we give up, we end up losing all that we invested. Starting from scratch is a frightening thought; what if we fail again? And that thought makes us hold on and want to try a little more before giving up, which can then turn into a vicious cycle.

Is it wise to keep hoping that a relationship which rarely (if ever) gives you any fulfillment will turn into a happy and loving one someday? How long should one go on hoping? When it comes to something as abstract as love, there are no set rules by which we can live. Unfortunately, the only thing to do is to let go, to realize that some things are beyond your control, because it is extremely difficult to change another person's behavior unless that person is willing to make a conscious effort to do so. And in such chronically un-fulfilling relationships, chances are that the other person already knows that they are not doing you any good, but has shown no signs of wanting to change that even now. Where is the hope then?

Is it not better to be happy and at peace for the balance of your life, as compared to always feeling shortchanged? Sometimes the only thing to do is to cut your losses and move on while you can, because every negative experience takes away a bit of you with it. Letting go won't be easy, but trust me when I say that you will thank yourself for taking a hard decision in good time. Remember the saying "today's pain is tomorrow's gain"?

Nevertheless, moving on is always easier said than done. In spite of realizing that it is the sensible thing to do, many people still stay on in a losing situation in the hope of making things better, letting life pass them by.

It does seem then, that for some things, experience is probably the only (and the toughest) teacher!

Crazy Little thing Called ....

What is the one thing that is hardest to get, easiest to lose, and is usually never retrieved whole once lost? That which is highly coveted by all but impossible to ask for, buy, steal or obtain by force; which can only be given to you by someone when he or she decides you are deserving enough.

How many times have you had the phrase "trust me" thrown at you, without reason or logic? Trust is a tricky little thing; it takes a while to build and mere moments to destroy. Even so, people are quick to use the word and ask others for it, without realizing what it implies. They ask others to trust them, but when are they going to understand that one cannot simply demand it?
Asking for trust is pointless, you can only get it through consistent behavior in the right direction, over time. It's makes no sense to ask someone to trust you when your actions prove otherwise, because they simply won't be able to. You will have to prove yourself worthy first.

What's more, once you win somebody's trust, you can't take it for granted. You will have to be consistently honest with that person in order to keep it alive. This calls for some effort on your part. It takes only a single instance to destroy trust, one wrong move and it's gone. And after that, even if you try hard to get it back, it is unlikely to ever be the same again. You can liken it to a broken mirror; you may stick the pieces back together, but the cracks will never go.

Of course, this doesn't mean we should start eyeing everyone we come across with suspicion, but it's wise to not get carried away or wear horse-blinders when it comes to judging others. It isn't always possible to immediately classify people into either of the two subsets "innocent until proven guilty" or "guilty until proven innocent", but we can start by giving them the benefit of doubt while keeping our wits about us. Giving people a chance to prove their good intentions is the right thing to do; letting them abuse that chance is not.

Now there are going to be be a fair number of people who will abuse that chance, but still demand that you trust them. So the next time one of them insists that you learn to trust, look them straight in the eye and insist that they first earn it!

Sweet and simple... or is it?

Just Suicide!

Your life sucks? The one you love is fucking someone else? You hate yourself? Your job sucks? Your boss is a Doof and your co-workers are back-stabbing motherfuckers? The whole world is out to get you?

Chill.

We have just the thing you need, fates have guided you to the right blog post, because what you need is a Suicide!

Yes!

Kill Yourself! but [[[How?]]] you ask. The world is full of un-imaginative idiots who have made suicide look like something bad and idiotic, it’s time you took control of your life and the way it should end.It's time You took suicide to a higher level. No stupid cutting, jumping, ropes, guns or poisons involved, this is suicide like you have never heard before. This is what imagination does to you.

Let's not delay the inevitable and move on to the three top slow and steady FUBAR ways to cash in your chips, go west to meet the maker! [why slow and steady you ask? cuz that makes sure you win the race ;)]

Fall In Love--- Love, as they say, is the slowest form of suicide. Once in it, you ARE going to DIE. The road to Happily Never After is littered with evil intentions and broken hearts, you walk a mile in a three legged race of love and the road forks. Sweet. Either you succeed and have a "happy ending" [Ending is the keyword here] or you fail and die bit by bit inside. Very interesting and novel way to die, of course half the world is doing it without even realizing it. That is what makes this fun.

Chase a Dream-- Dreams are nothing but remains of a bad night's sleep. If you go chasing dreams on mountains of hope, your dreams will turn around and bite you in the face. Then they will jump off the mountain and start flying, while your face will be headed on a super-fast Hello to Mr Ground of Reality. That can break a man or a woman, from inside and when you die there, no glue or doctor can join you back again. Chasing dreams is a risky method and a complex one, slow and simple, but sure.

Time Travel!- Now, just as you read time travel, 95% of you would get thinking on the Grandfather lines. Well, get original, grab a time machine from the nearby supermarket and zip back to tomorrow and meet yourself. BOOM the universe will explode, tearing apart the trousers of time and there! the most original suicide in the history of the world. Literally!

[and as a bonus method]

Read A Story A Day - Congrats, you are already on your way to the pearly gates pits of hell. Word by word these sentences will crawl in your brain through your eyes and push your brain through your ears till there is no more space left in your head for anything but this fucked up blog. A slow, and a very painful death.

Yup that's all folks! But [there is always a but] I shall leave you with a poem by the great Dorothy Parker!

"Razors pain you, rivers are damp,
Acid stains you, drugs cause cramp,
Guns aren't lawful, nooses give,
Gas smells awful, you might as well live"

-=-=-=-

Suicide is Self Expression. Hope it all helps.

Things I Hate About Twitter

Yeah it may seem a bit strange that I'm about to tell you some of things I hate about Twitter, when I happen to spend most of my time on it. Yes...I love Twitter, but sometimes it all gets a bit much and I find myself running to hide in a dark corner somewhere.

In no certain order, here I go.

1) Unclear tweets.
2) Incomprehensible jargon.
3) hahahaha tweets.
4) Pests who tweet @ you ALL the time.
5) Trolls.
6) Ugly people.
7) People with two, three people in display pic.
8) People who tweet only motivational shit.
9) Flag bearers for causes.
10) Beat the same drum ALL the fucking time.
11) People who swear too fucking much, un-fucking-necessarily.
12) People who ALWAYS tweet in their regional language.
13) They twitpic everything they eat.
14) Foursquare check-ins.
15) Always chatting with people.
16) Multiple exclamation marks!!!!!
17) They ask for a follow-back. They announce now following to all..
18) You Manually RT Tweets of others, and most importantly You Also Add Your Opinion to it  "Oh yeah, I'm retweeting this from somebody else to show my individuality to the world"; shut up, you are clearly an idiot, and  it just plain irritates the hell out of me.
19) They talk to celebs all day like they give a fuck about them.
20) They're mentally disturbed and somehow have a net connection.
21) Political tweets.
22) Sad all the time.
23) DP Changing Syndrome (DPCS)
24) Only talk to girls & Flirts with all the other girls.
25)  Tweets protected. Please! what the Hell are you trying to PROTECT?
26) Guys faking a girl's profile and vice versa.
27) Append a fuck lotta tweets with TWHS TWSS.
28) 140 character long #tags.
29) Music Marathon Madness.
30) Misery machines who want sympathy.
31) People who crash conversations.
32) Fights with people ALL the time.
33) Online 24/7
34) When you updated your bio and you saw everyone has a blog so you made one to be cool, but never updated your blog, or lets say you have no idea what blogging is?
35) Tweets with just links without any accompanying text.
36) You've an i appending your handle, probably stands for idiot?
37) You've a number in your name, like 69, (how mature!)
38) Check DM and #FF Tweets.
39) Excessive blog pimping.
40) Hate petrol price hike, make ur fucking own petrol.
41) Suicide threats.
42) Extremely open about relationship on twitter (No one's interested)
43) Change Handle Every two weeks.
44) Have an animated display pic.
45) You take drugs and tweet about them. & You fake accidents.
46) “My first tweet”, “hello world”, “still trying to figure this one out”, “can someone follow me?” and then pffft, gone with the wind.
47) Miserable poetry.
48) Stand up comedians.
49) Photographers.
50) Over-excited Mothers.
51) Non-native RT
52) Complaining for sympathy.
53) Fat people who are not doing something about it, except eating more.
54) You lie constantly about stuff that no one cares about.
55) Excited hamster syndrome.
56) Movie Reviewers.
57) People who try to show that they're superior by trolling others.
58) Sexual tweets, some of us are trying to eat food.
59) Pointless debates/arguments.
60) Anagram Assholes.
61) Your baby is not that cute, all babies look the same.
62) Always complains about Word limit - 140 characters - If you expect more than this please leave us alone and leave twitter, there are many options available than just blabbering about it..
63) Blog Whore - because blogging is dead n all.
64) Bollywood & Hollywood Bitches.
65) Your handle is sexual, your tweets are equally boring.
66) You copy tweets from funny foreigners.
67) People talking like "Only 3 followers left for 5000" or People tweeting that they’ve achieved 300 followers in 24 hours, like it's an achievement.
68) Overtly patriotic.
69) Disrespectful towards women with wife beating/kitchen jokes.
70) People with egg DP following thousand or more and got Zero tweets. What da faq? you dunno How to type?
71) You RT blood requests without checking.
72) You RT your own praise.
73) You praise others just to get an RT and a follow.
74) You ask celebs for RTs.
75) Using a celebrity name to attract gullible fans.
76) You have the name of a beverage in your handle, coffee, coke, water etc.
77) You tweet shit at customer care accounts, just cuz they can't be rude to you.
78) You're always traffucked.
79) You've a good life, but you whine like a bitch.
80) Disrespectful towards elders on twitter.
81) You give movie reviews, 9/10 or whatever.
82) People giving each other hugs and <3 and="and" kisses.="kisses." p="p">83) You think every sly tweet is about you. or Everyone sly tweets about you. or You sly tweet about everyone.
84) Bios that read something like “Author, motivational speaker, web 2.0 wizard, fitness coach, CEO, marathon runner, Dad to 5 kids, Scout Leader.” Really?
85) Those horrendous “Let’s spread some love today, everyone!” type of Tweets
86) You tweet about facebook.
87) You are on twitter with hopes of getting laid.
88) You've an online girlfriend/boyfriend whom you've never met.
89) You tweet about time.
90) 11.11
91) Your jokes are shit.
92) You ask people for simple decisions in your life.
93) You write open letters.
94) You hold celebs/politicians directly responsible for your misery.
95) You arrange tweetups.
96) People talking about neighbors, babies, unknown music.
97) Too many followers. Life was better with lesser number of followers. Then people start following and take everything you say so seriously.
98) Supreme Idiocy.
99) Fucked up reasoning for causes.
100) Weather tweets.
101) You correct grammar of others.
102) Football freaks.
103) People who add URGENT to every other tweet.
104) People who tweet only after a certain time and make a big deal out of it.
105) The retarded group good morning, good afternoon etc tweets. Sucks even more when the each person tagged in the tweet responds.

Okay, done for today. All these points were written in a humorous tone, but if you have a problem with any of these, feel free to bug me on twitter @datsdawayitz

Got any favs? Hate any particular number? Leave a comment! Nice way to let other readers know your view!

Cheers!

Are we a Wasted Generation?

The United Nation’s definition of youth defines youth as those who are between the age of 15 to 24. By definition, then those who are below the age of 14 are considered children. However the Article I of the United Nations’ convention on the rights of the child defines children as persons up to the age of 18. Some countries define youth at the age at which a person is given equal rights under the law, which is often referred to as the “age of majority” and in many countries age of majority is 18. Once a person passes this age he or she is considered an adult. There is also a noticeable division between teen agers (13-19) and young adults (20-24). Approximately 1 billion youth live in the world today; 18% of the world population. This means that one person out of five is in the age of 15- 24. Interestingly this is the first time in the world history that the world witnesses such a high concentration of youth on its surface. The majority, 85%, of the youth live in the developing countries with 60% living in Asia alone and a remaining 23% in African countries. It is calculated that by 2025 this 85% would augment in to 89.5%. But what is most important to comprehend is that the notion of youth is subjected to different socio-cultural, political, economic and ideological variables and it is these factors that determines who is a youth despite of all the definitions provided by any institution.

Now let us take a look at the Maldives definition of youth. In general perspective the youth fall in to the age category of  18 to 35. However the intriguing aspect of defining the youth in Maldives is to touch on the ideological perception of them by the masses. To put this in to simple language, what comes in to your mind with the utterance of youth? For most, youth is the icon of trouble. Youth is defined as an unemployed, druggies, restless minority constantly struggling along with violence to achieve their rights. Youth is also defined in terms of school dropouts and this population is one of the overtly representative fractions of the youth in Maldives. With all the hullabaloos that have been continued by this lot in the history of Maldives, the general pessimistic perception of the Youth by the masses can be justified.

With all these in mind, I base this article on a discussion we had few weeks ago. Are we a wasted generation? The question was quite shocking; something which we have not contemplated ever before but gave away few fascinating point of views of different genres.  Half of the people stated that we are a wasted generation and a few justified that we are not but most interestingly some were neutral of which the reasons and threats will be discussed later on.

One of the major arguments dragged in to justify that we are a wasted generation is that we have nothing to gain by a struggle; political achievement, and struggle obviously does not mean a physical one. Most of the young people do believe that there is no prospect for a major political revolution in the world per se. No opportunity to revolutionize the whole system as Karl Marx or Lenin did. Thus this political opportunity absence has convinced them to believe that youth has no important role to play in the political arena. But what is tragic and ironical here is that they do not grasp the importance of rightful, adequate and substantial political involvement by youth which is indispensable right now to Maldives.

The free market economy is explicitly a dominant feature of our lives. It is not exaggerating to state that we do not decide for ourselves any more but it is the free market economy which decides for us. My argument at a first glance would appear intimidating. But the explanation to this phenomenon is as follows. The term “free market” designates the fact that it is “free” and the consumer has the power to control the market by “demand”. Yet what we do not perceive is that our demand is conditioned by the “supply” it self and therefore our scope of independence in the free market is limited. Thus the supply decides what we should consume. On the other and most sophisticatedly the free market uses advertising to condition our decisions. The conditional psychological techniques executed by the advertisers unconsciously decide for us in all most all aspects of our lives. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian psychologist once did a research using a dog to investigate how external factors contribute to the gastric function of a dog and results in salving. He rang a bell before giving the food to the dog and eventually the dog started salving to the sound of the bell even without the food which is now known as “ring a bell“theory. This simply means how external factors condition a beings internal urges. The free market economy advertisers use the same theory. For instance they show us a guy using a perfume and then get a hot a girl. The condition of this phenomenon is that “the perfume” is necessary to get the hot girl and therefore urges the viewers to purchase it in order to get the “hot girl”. Thus the desire of the Other becomes the desire of us. Therefore some of the youth believe that we are denied the right to free decision making by the unconscious conditioned deciding factors of the free market and thus we are, in fact all of us are, a wasted generation.

Another cliché tic argument of the youth to justify that we are a wasted generation is the unemployment experience by the youth and the less opportunity to “higher” education especially in Maldives due to various reasons. It is on one hand a fair argument to produce because of the high rate of unemployment among the youth of the country. However this has been discussed enough and I do not wish to explain it further.

And now let us contemplate on whether we are actually a wasted generation. In my personal opinion why do we have to struggle to prove that we are not a wasted generation? Is “struggle” and indispensable part of youth? It is this ideology and discourse of youth being a noticeably a radical group that has lead us to this conclusion. Yet there are enough opportunities for us to struggle in this country. There are hundreds of political injustices and human rights violations taking place but how many of us do notice them. It is here that we again come across the irony of our youth. Most of us are blind to the ongoing political discourse or are not rational enough to analyze the political situation here, not just political but our society’s concerns. Most of us are neutral to socio-political happenings of the country and then complain that we need a revolution. Thus isn’t it our fault that we are wasted?

But now let me entertain you in the most crucial part of this article. It is the first and the only time in the world history that we witness such a vast concentration of youth on the surface of the planet earth. More than three fourths of that population lives in the developing countries and more than half of that population lives in Asia. This on one hand is a very unique and on the other hand extremely risky situation. The high concentration of youth in Asia can be translated in to so many controversial problems starting from augmenting the present unemployment rate.

However I would like to concentrate on socio-cultural perspective of this massive phenomenon. The high concentrate of youth, without doubt, predetermines a series of socio-cultural issues not necessarily pessimistic. One of the main points pointed out by the UN is that this new generation is highly sexually active. This means that there will be a high birth rate in the future which will lead to a massive apocalypse of human population and therefore the means of full filling the basic needs of this next generation should also be given a thought. Furthermore this high sexual activeness would invariably lead to unwanted pregnancies which will result in a high rate of abortions. This will also lead to the spreading of HIV/AIDS epidemic and other STIs among the youth which will lead to a desperate destruction of the youth generation. Thus as the youth, there is a struggle for us to initiate. It is time for us to contemplate on the possible solutions for the expected issues. Our youth do lack the basic sex education. Even though a diminutive syllabus is included in the education system the lessons are either not taught or loosely dealt and consequently the lack of sex education has lead to many unsafe sex practices which is even apparent right now. Thus we need to find methods to extend the sex education among the youth. Furthermore awareness of HIV/AIDS and other STIs should be given in order to decrease the high rate of epidemic infection. We would also be responsible to find solutions to feed a massive young population in the near future about all this and drugs. Following this issue there will appear other problems such as housing, health, infrastructure, education etc when accommodating a massive population.

Thus we have to question again and again, are we a wasted generation. It is as important as this to analyze the arguments of those who claim that we are a wasted generation. But above all the personal perception of this issue by the youth itself matters overtly in examining this phenomenon. The majority of this young population lives in developing countries and in Asia. Thus the responsibility that we as youth have to share is enormous. The solutions for upcoming problems must be predetermined in excess and strategies must be implemented in advance. Thus calling us a wasted generation for not having apparent struggles or simply because of the consequences of free market is highly problematic and illogical without contemplating on the future issues of the young generation. The old school theories should be dealt with proper integration so that they would not influence us pessimistically to look forward to the future. Finally, children will become young one day and young will become old and it is our duty right now to get prepared to accommodate all on the surface of planet earth despite our intensely self occupied prejudices.

Cont: Kids lost their childhood?

Ps: Im not a parent nor I look after kids or what so ever!! but i live in this world where everything happens right infront of me, and I cant just Shut up and let it happen..

I sometimes fear that far from feeling carefree like butterflies and enjoying their childhood, our kids might actually be glad to leave their childhood behind them, considering how many of them are being pushed to excel by today’s parents!

Compared to the carefree times of my childhood, today’s children are living under constant stress: the stress of carrying on their slender shoulders the aspirations and lofty ambitions of their parents; the expectations of their teachers; and the incredible load of curriculum. They are living in a world where learning is always equated with competition; activities are all about winning a prize; and classes are joined not based on the kid’s skills or interests but on their snob value. Add to this the tough school schedule, loads of homework, projects and tuition, and the poor child just keeps getting pushed deeper and deeper in the vortex of stress and struggles to cope.

Welcome to the world of ‘helicopter parents’ —  those super-informed, super-involved, on-the-move parents, shuttling their kids from one class to another with the ease of a skilled acrobat! These are the parents that hover around their kids in a colony contest, desperately prompting the child, with a camera in tow elbowing out anyone who comes between them and their super achiever kid. These are the parents that worry about every germ that the child encounters and run after the poor kid with sanitizer in one hand and low-fat, high-protein smoothie in the other. They fill every second of their child’s existence with ‘constructive’ activities.

But if they really do have their child’s best interests at heart, they should stop obsessing over their kindergartener’s handwriting and micromanaging their lives in general. Else, the poor, mortified child would end up a super dependent adult, always seeking approval and unable to make even the smallest decision in life.

I really mean it; lay off parents! Give your child some fresh air to breathe and some space to thrive. Children are so creative and intelligent, they will surprise you with what they can do. If anything is holding back your children, it is your obsessive involvement and not their limitation! Set them free!

Isn’t it a matter of concern that children as young as five are falling prey to depression? There is a very fine line between stimulation and exertion; motivation and pressure. And most parents in my generation are going overboard. What is the need to keep the child ‘occupied’ at all times? Does it truly lead to all-round development? More importantly, how many parents even care?

For, we also have a breed of parents that is the opposite of helicopter parents: the under involved parents! All they want is for the kids to be somehow taken care of by someone because they are struggling to fit in too many things in their own lives.

For these parents kids need to be kept engaged because they do not have the time or inclination to provide them the attention they need. It has nothing to do with both the parents working. I see stay-at-home moms lounging in front of television sets or engrossed in their own social activities, even staying online for hours. In effect, they are unavailable, uninterested and even irritable when the child comes home. They have no time to spare for the child. So, they push the child to go for tuition even at a very young age when they can very well teach the child at home. In addition to this, there are the sundry classes like piano, art and music.

Did the parents once find out what the child wanted? Is she happy doing this or does she have the talent or attitude to cope? Is the child too tired? Can’t she play with friends or engage in a favorite hobby like gardening that is more fun?

And, then we complain that kids are growing up brash and disrespectful and don’t bond with us. Did we spend the time to nurture the bond? Were we there to guide the child, to console her when she needed it, to hug her and tell her that it is okay to lose as long as she tried hard enough, that we love her for being her and not because she won a medal, and that we are always there for her no matter what! The question is, do parents have a couple of hours in their day that they can dedicate to their child without being distracted by their mobile or computer or TV? Do they take time out to talk and laugh together? What has happened to family interaction? Do the tired parents and tired children have time to share their lives, ask for guidance or discuss their fears and aspirations?

I hope each parent pauses for a second and thinks: What kind of a parent am I? Am I taking away the ‘child’ from their childhood?

We can earn all the money we want and do other ‘important’ things, but the time and love lost are gone forever. I wish that parents would not have kids if they did not understand the magnitude of the responsibility that the task of raising them entails. The damage cannot be undone once they are older. It is not possible to rebuild the relationship in their teenage years. There is no greater joy than to raise a well-mannered, loving child, who need not necessarily be a genius.

Let us make the change while we still can!

Kids lost their childhood?

I don't see any kid jumping over the compound walls, playing running around, and catching butterflies with street sweeper Illoshifathi, playing hide and seek, see-saw or anything like this now a days. I don't see them running from the neighbor’s house after playing with friends;  kids go out, but to their tuition classes. They don't climb palm trees, not even a ladder, do they?  Not in my locality. We used to race in our bicycles, these days the kids ride bicycles, but only in beach or maybe on Lonuziyaarai kolhu plat form. Come on!

Whenever I see a kid they carry a big bag, big enough to create a hunch as they grow up coz they bend so much due to the weight. They are either stuck to the frigging television or the stupid PSP, iPad. When I ask a 6 year old kid what he does during his free time. He lines up a bunch of classes he attends and I start feeling sick.  I think the parents of our generation are getting over protective, they don't play in the sand; don't eat roadside food, like you never ate when you were a kid! Carry a sanitizer with you. Duh! Years back we didn't even know such a thing existed; they were a thing at hospital used by doctors. I used to have so many wound marks on my knees and arms. I love to use “Rai beys” all over, I used to be very proud of them and my parents they never cared about it, and they don't panic like I had broken my limb, if I had a little scratch. When I see my relatives now, even if the kid is about to fall they are going through a stress attack, really! I am not exaggerating. Few kids are really huge, they are obese. Don't tell me its puppy fat for God's sake! The parents buy them all the junk foods to keep them shut and they gain weight because there is no way they are burning that fat they gain, you push them into some abacus class or music class where they sit and sit and sit. 

Before making further accusations, (I felt that will be the right word) I am not a very old lady complaining about the parenthood of this generation. But I really find it so funny! Why are we being so cruel with those little ones? Don’t force your so-called luxury and disciplined lifestyle (bwahaha) into that kid. Can’t you see they are suffocating!

Please know that you are responsible for your kid losing his/her childhood. When he/she grows up to be an adult they will have no childhood memories, what do you expect them to say? When I was 5 years old I would come back from school and get ready ASAP to go to the tuitions, after tuitions I come back home and finish my home works by the time I would be very tired so I would go to sleep. Over the weekends, I had a bunch of other classes to attend training, vocal, concert practice, koya, literature club, netball and then I would go to the beach but will not play in the water because it used to be extremely dirty contagious you see, so I just watch others play and come back.  I read lots and lots of books that I started hating even the story books. How exciting does that sound? But this is how your kids will answer.

I am not saying that they shouldn't go to classes or not read books or not study at all but come on! don't take their childhood away from them by laying stupid protocols like when you go to beach ,"don't go to the water, stay within the mat" why at all take them to a beach then? Lay a mat at home and have fun! All you want is to sit in the mat. Please don’t introduce them to the computer. Say a BIG no to mobile phone usage and playing PSP. Over the weekends ask your kids to get out of the house at around 3.30 PM and tell them that you will not let them in until it's 6 PM. Let them socialize! Teach them the games you played when you were a kid not the indoor games or the games like scrabble, chess, word building and carom that would improve their IQ and logical thinking. You can please have that for the latter part of their life. Teach them the crazy games like running and catching, hitting the ball, hide and seek, yell, sing, blindfold. I think a kid is more cute only if he is dirty and if he plays in the mud, eats ice corn and the roadside foods, let them go crazy, talk to them a lot about the crazy things you did in life and inspire them, let the neighbors complain about them and just say, ‘What would you expect from a kid?’ And if you hadn't done anything crazy please give them an opportunity to tell their kids about the crazy things they did as a child. Let them catch up fever, cold it’s OK they are not dreadful diseases, trust me, they will get immune. 

Don't take away their childhood from them. Stop burdening them. I know this is a competitive world but don't kill the beautiful phase of their life, "childhood". 

Afterall, tomorrow is just a myth! Let them go crazy, they should know how to "live" life!