Bachpan ke Confusion

(Stay away from three things)

Teen cheezon se khud ko door rakho:

· Kaam

· Krodh

· … (I don’t remember this third one, and it is not significant for the purpose of this post)

The first time I have read this graffiti on the wall of a British Raj school, I was very glad. I need not have mentioned what was the age of that school; that’s not important, but who said I write any important things on this blog? Anyways, someone supported me in staying away from work. So the next time my uncle asked me to bring something from market I recited him my new learned mantra. He looked at me in a strange way as all those about to be assaulted women in Bollywood flicks looked at Shakti Kapoor and Ranjeet. I thought he was amazed at my profound knowledge. I grinned at him and immediately got a kick on my butt. He had behaved really weird. A saying on a school wall is as sacred as hymns written on temple walls. Why was I rebuked for saying it took a long time for me to grasp. (for angrezi people; work is kaam in hindi, and in english kaam means seduction).

Early episodes of epic serials have always roped in this belief that a certain God raises his hands and kids sprouted out of nothing. This was quite a simple process and it didn’t need any human effort. Later I heard of a certain story in which a lady traps a God into returning him her husband when the God had given her the blessing of a kid. Now my understanding was questioned and when I asked this question to the fellow pupils and friends, I was subjected to more confusion. It took a lot of time for all that confusion to wear off.

Finally, I came in high school and was introduced to the wonderful subject of biology. There I learned about reproduction and I remember it was the tenth chapter in the text book. I never read beyond it. I was not alone. The whole class refused to go any further. Even the most reticent students found themselves engaged in fierce discussion, debates and arguments. Everyone enjoyed the topic. One more thing; reproduction in botany was totally ignored. After all, we all were humans and to think about humans was our first duty. Although I have written the previous sentence in past tense, we still are humans and to think about humans is still our first priority, though today we have become a little gender biased. And yes, everyone has his own bias.