The way in which my son implements the knowledge gained by listening to stories is quite amazing (at least for me). I tried reading some mythology books like Ramayana, Mahabharata, Hanuman, and Ganesha to him even before he turned 2, but he was never interested. Once he crossed 2 he started talking fluently and was in a position to express his views on things. At that point of time I read him Ramayana. The books were really good; written in simple English and lots of pictures. He paid attention to the complete story and asked me lots of questions through out. At the end when I showed him the picture of Rama killing Ravana he asked me:
Son: Mom, why is Rama killing Ravana?
Me: Because he is an evil person and Rama wants to save the lives of many people by killing him.
Son: But Rama is a bad boy. Because he hit Ravana with an arrow and blood is coming from Ravana’s belly.
Me: Ummm, Rama is not bad. Ravana is bad as he took away Rama’s wife and started a fight with Rama and killed many of his people
Son: But Rama is killing many people too. There is blood coming out in the book. Rama is a bad boy. I don’t like him
Me: (searching for words, no munna…it is not like that)
He cries and goes away. And after that when ever I wanted to read him Ramayana he says I don’t like that book.
Well, I thought may be he is not old enough. So I waited till he turned 3 and then told him a few stories in Mahabharata. That did not go well either. Every story had some kind of violence, politics, and strategy. I could not think of a single story where there is a moral with out any side effects. Then I bought him a DVD of Hanuman (Animation). It has become quite popular in India. I got that one and he liked the scene where baby Hanuman flies into the sky when he is hungry to eat the Sun thinking it is a mango. Yeahhhhhhh I was happy.
Now for the side effects I was talking about - There is a scene where they show Hanuman doing penance when he is small and he becomes big while doing so. And my son sat on the couch in that penance style and started shouting:
Son: Mom! I am not growing bigger. Make me grow bigger like Hanuman
Me: Why do you want to grow bigger?
Son: I can touch the fan if I become big
Me: Oh for that I can happily lift you. Don’t try to become big for that
Then he saw scenes where Hanuman goes to Lanka and makes a mess.
Son: Mom, why is Hanuman jumping all over?
Me: Because he is a monkey
Son: Why is he hitting everybody with his mace?
Me: Because he is punishing the bad people
Now he starts hitting me with what ever he has in his hand when I shout at him for spilling water or milk on the couch. When I try to tell him he cannot do that he says he is punishing the bad people (yeah that is me) like Hanuman did. How should I explain him that no matter what I do or say I won’t become a bad person?
This is the best interpretation of all. Recently I told him how Ganesha was born. How Parvathi made an idol of a baby using some bath powder and gave life to it. I usually tell the story with a lot of enthusiasm with sound effects and acting all the scenes. I make him sit on the couch and stand in front of him and tell the stories. (I think I should consider acting in theaters)
So I made this swooooooooosh sound when telling him how Parvathi did some magic and put life into the baby she made and that is how Ganesha was born. My son liked that story and would ask me several times how Parvathi put life into Ganesha. Cute kid!
Now the problem is with the interpretation. The other day he came into the garage when I was doing laundry and saw his old shoes. He wanted to wear those. But they don’t fit him anymore. He insisted on wearing those and I thought let me show him why they don’t fit him. I tried to adjust one shoe to his foot and it did not fit and then here goes our very intelligent conversation:
Son: I want to make this shoe fit.
Me: You are too big for it now. It won’t fit you.
Son: Why am I too big?
Me: Because kids grow and you have grown bigger in the last one month.
Son: OK! Make the shoe big.
Me: (What???????) You cannot make it big
Son: Why?
Me: Becauuuuuuuuse (I always want to give the best answers to all his questions so that he can learn some thing out of it…so here I go) it is a non living thing.
Son: What is a non living thing?
Me: (cursing myself for coming up with that word) Ummm a non living thing does not grow. You are a living thing and you grow big. This shoe is a non living thing and it cannot grow.
Son: Ohhhh! (I was so glad he understood the concept) put some life into it mom. (smiles)
Me; What?? You cannot put life into non living things
Son: (Crying). Yes you can. Put some life into the shoe as Parvathi put life into the baby to make Ganesha
He thinks that all moms’ can put life into things (like Parvathi).
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