I was cleaning out my cupboard and I found an old book. I was so excited!
Memories flooded my head and I was filled with overwhelming nostalgia as I turned the slightly yellow pages. I found myself humming tunes to all my favourite travel songs including "Pontius Pilate King of the Jews" and "Lay your pistol down" the lyrics of which were written in that book in a rather childlike manner!
True classics, these songs, I realized have played an extremely important role in moulding me into the person I have become. As a child I would go on family trips where we would sing these songs with various variations on the bus journeys. Right from a two year old who was just learning how to talk to my 75 year old grandma, everyone on that bus would have the songs on their lips!
This then got me thinking, had it not been for my mother's persistence, and her constant efforts at bringing out my creative best, I would have been a completely different person, probably not appreciating the arts and the classics. Today, I see people around me who are in complete oblivion about the evergreen Sound of Music and My Fair Lady. Darcy and Professor Higgins are names that would be met with a HUGE question mark and blank expressions.
I really begin to wonder what the quality of entertainment has come to! I remember being encouraged to watch good classic movies and listen to classical music. I was always encouraged to read the likes of Enid Blyton and Carolyn Keene. Today all I see is Dragon ball Z and Bey blade and Ben10! Where have the good ole' Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo episodes disappeared?! Those are what I would call actual cartoons, as opposed to the menace that has taken over the kid television market these days! It is no wonder kids find themselves in the midst of so called "fighting games"! The violence and the atrocious language portrayed in the cartoons of today have volatilized a child's imagination and creativity making them extremely destructive!
While I scan through the television channels today I cannot help but think about how blessed I was to have grown up in the nineties with a family which is rich in its cultural ways. No matter what anyone says, I do strongly believe that the timeless classics, fairy tales as well as the occasional fun cartoons as opposed to today's 'munni badnaams' and 'Dragon Ball Z' play an extremely strong positive role in the upbringing of child.
I really do wish parents would pay more attention to exposing children to classics and quality entertainment. While I understand that parents today are constantly working, maybe its time for schools to take action and promote the old school classics which would reinstate the culture and certain moral values among the kids of today. The good old 'library period' in school played a HUGE role in my life! I hope they understand the value of good books and start laying more emphasis on book reports at a tender age!
And Mr. Cartoon Network please get your act together!!
While I scan through the television channels today I cannot help but think about how blessed I was to have grown up in the nineties with a family which is rich in its cultural ways. No matter what anyone says, I do strongly believe that the timeless classics, fairy tales as well as the occasional fun cartoons as opposed to today's 'munni badnaams' and 'Dragon Ball Z' play an extremely strong positive role in the upbringing of child.
I really do wish parents would pay more attention to exposing children to classics and quality entertainment. While I understand that parents today are constantly working, maybe its time for schools to take action and promote the old school classics which would reinstate the culture and certain moral values among the kids of today. The good old 'library period' in school played a HUGE role in my life! I hope they understand the value of good books and start laying more emphasis on book reports at a tender age!
And Mr. Cartoon Network please get your act together!!
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