Hooked on [blank]

And so it begins … the hooked on (blank) phase!

Two weeks ago we came home with at least 6 toddler books from the library, ranging from colors, trucks, level 1 reading (no he can’t read yet). There was one about Dora and oh boy did he get stuck on that one like a leach. Of course it was about how Dora and Boots worked together to help the ice cream truck that was stuck, which probably fascinated him; but for us it was a torture reading and re-reading the same thing over and over again.

Then there are the shows, it has to be Curious George in the morning (now this one I can at least stand), and evenings dedicated to Bob the builder (no can’t stand the “Yes we can” mantra anymore). I used to think I had a record for watching the same movie 4-5 times, but this little guy has beaten me to the punch. He probably knows the whole 30 minute dialogue like the back of his hand, but he doesn’t get bored … or maybe just maybe he knows it will drive me crazy! Argh!

Baby Einstein or not?

The New York Times reported of the major recall of the Disney DVD – Baby Einstein videos which mainly promoted babies to turn around into Nobel prize winners as they watched these shows. Of course there has always been a controversy around showing TV for infants, with most doctors recommending no TV for children under 2 and just moderate activity for toddlers.

No TV until 2 is probably a lot easier rule to implement when you have just one baby in the house. But what if you have 2 kids of varying age or if you have cousins and friends who come over to your house frequently and they are entrenched in High School Musicals and Hannah Montana’s of the world? It’s much easier to comfort ourselves and buy the so-called educational videos to entertain the fussy kid or let them watch a little tele as we feed them greens. Seems like a “a little” trade-off. Well apparently so, as “according to a 2003 study, a third of all American babies from 6 months to 2 years old had at least one “Baby Einstein” video”.

So did each of the parents who bought (gifted/borrowed) such a DVD truly believe that there kids would become instant genius by watching the DVDs – no I don’t think so. Nor do I think that each of the parent who bought a video ended up letting their kids watching TV 24/7. Unfortunately, some trade offs were obviously made. Be it an educational video, a cartoon or a nursery rhyme we all have introduced TV and with it a whole slew of known corrupt products into our child’s life, and there is no going back. You can limit, set rules and possibly add other activities to off-set the idiot box influence but unless you are willing to go back to cave man mode can the genie be put back into the bottle?

I have to admit our no TV initiative of two years is now dead and gone, as Kochunni started watching some you tube songs around 2 years of age and slowly over the last year has extended to half hour TV shows for his meal times – breakfast, lunch and dinner. Of course when we are traveling or he is at daycare there is no TV and he manages well. Our own TV time has generally reduced to the after hours (when the little guy has gone to bed) and amazingly enough the addiction to mind-numbing programs was very easy to turn off. We don't have a Wii nor play the Playstation these days (who has the time) but he sees us using the computer. My dad was studying for his drivers license online and Kochunni enjoys sitting in his lap watching the pictures of cars and road signs. How much of it all is harmful? That is the million dollar question. At our friends house they have their 6 year old to firmly believe that cable TV only works on Friday and over the weekend. So of course Fridays are a late night, and weekend is full of PBS shows when they are home. How soon will she figure out the 'lie' is anybody's guess.

Am I running around in circle here? Possibly. I am not sure if no TV solves the problem either. Children have a way of finding out. Kochunni says he wants to be Spider-man for Halloween, and I was surprised because he has never seen a video or a cartoon about it. But when I showed him a picture he recognized it. So where does that leave us as a parent?

Seems like I have a lot more questions than answers, but that is parenting, isn't it? So with all said and done, here's my two cents, keep trying folks! Try to maintain that balance of imaginative play and mind-numbing programs. All the best!

PS: So what if you did buy an Einstein video, here’s a way to get a refund. :)

TV Land

For a while now, Kochunni prefers to eat his lunch/dinner in front of the idiot box watching his cartoons and songs. It’s the daily ritual and seems like the food wont travel down his throat if the TV isn’t on, though our recent India trip dispelled this myth, making me want to clear the clutter on the dinner table and use that for a family meal. Of course easier said than done , with too many things going against it.
One, the dining table is very near our entry point into the house, which means the stack of letters (read spam), bags and everything else virtually are always placed there until the next morning when needed again.
Two, family meals is a thing of past as Kochunni (presumably) needing to go to bed early has to have his dinner by 7, at which time (on most days) husband is not home. Then having just two people sit at this large table seems too elaborate an effort.
And so the TV saga continues, though to be fair, I too love watching my shows eating my dinner (the Gen Y effect)

Now for some of his favorite show reviews
Curious George – A monkey living in the big city with his man-friend in yellow hat, a perfect foil for a toddler learning new things, curious at figuring out the ways of the world. George doesn’t really speak but just makes sounds Ah! and the OOO’s, while the background commentator helps move the story forward. A nice blend of learning and fun makes it very entertaining even for adults

Sagwa – The Chinese Sesame Cat and Clifford – The Puppy Days - These two shows are in some ways similar and yet different. Both show talking animals and their owners, living in harmony. Though the owners don't realize that these pets can talk and only hear their barks or meows they seem to understand them well. Often the stories are split between the adventure of the kitten/puppy vs the adventure of the pet owner, both teaching viewers the importance of family, friendship, valor and other important qualities. Where one shows a family of kittens, Clifford has a made friends with a bunny, a bird, kittens and even a family of mice.

Bob the builder – This is an eternal favorite with the little guy, more for the trucks and than anything else. The first time he saw the video it was at the local Walmart store as we were doing some shopping. Kochunni then a 18 month old, squealed in delight at the sight of the brightly colored trucks and would get mad and cry every time Bob or Wendy came on the scene. He wanted to stay on the same aisle forever and we had the hardest time moving along. Seeing his enthusiasm, I did buy a video for him and to this day he sings the opening number with much gusto, even when he hasn't seen the video in months.

Thomas the Tank Engine – The first time Kochunni saw the show (again around 18 months) he seemed to be frightened at the somewhat plastic , chubby face of Thomas and his friends. He cried “Venda” (don’t) and asked us to stop playing the video. He did not mind reading about the train and his adventures through the scores of library books that passed through the house. I think today he wouldn’t mind watching the show though I haven’t had a chance to rent/buy the videos for a long time now.

Manjadi – A wonderful delight of songs, quite nicely rendered in 3D animation, though not comparable to any Hollywood production, it is still a decent attempt. We first found them on You Tube (no longer showing the full songs) and it was an instant hit with the little guy and singing the short songs became part of long car rides. The latter half of the CD contains stories from the Panchatantra that seem a little tedious to watch. But the songs from all three volumes are still some hot favorites in our household.

There you have the current favorites of the Kochunni household. I can already see signs of Kochunni getting distracted with Clifford and Sagwa, which might soon have to be replaced. So what about you, what are the favorites at your house these days?

21st or 12th Century?

A few days ago I was talking to a friend about some of the shows on Indian television – it seemed like the dark ages showing off the saas-bahu dramas, the pain of a father trying to get his ‘dark’ daughter married off, and of course sad stories about the woman who can do no wrong - who is always in one mess or another because of course the whole world is crooked and she never has the guts to stand up and fight. But my friend made a valid point that in India we are still in the dark ages and some of these are real fears that people have, there are people who ‘understand’ why one needs to get married to the tree before you marry the man you fell in love with or why someone else committed Sati or will only wear a white and not attend a single function because their drunkard husband died of lung failure. “Between art imitating life and life imitating art, we're not getting away from this crap,” she said. Her words stayed with me for a long time after, and I could not help wondering what is that keeping India in the dark ages.

Today I came across this news piece – It seems even during crashing economic times, the Bank of England has found time, and has taken the effort to send memos to their female employees on how to dress. Ridicules “rules” like ‘always wearing heals that are no more than 2 inches’ to a complete ‘NO’ on overstuffed bags are included in this memo. I am not sure how the female staff reacted to this bit of a memo, but indeed what a way to ensure the 21st century progress backwards!

So between the idiot box detailing 12th century ethics and a company laying biased ‘rules’ for just half of their employees, I guess we are definitely not getting away from this crap, any time soon.

Are TV shows changing?

Please tell me that they are…. For I do long for a change. When we ordered Direct TV last year I had hoped that watching some good old desi-TV would be a good break from the reality TV shows that now have filled up most of the prime spots on the television. When horrors I realized that the soaps with its regressive values still run the gamut of Indian television! Have you seen the ad for Grihasti – what with the some 7 odd women who have ‘lost their only male support’ Are you kidding me? Reading the news today about the end of the Kyunki saga – brings a little cheer in me. Could it be possible that Indian TV is moving to something more that these oft written lines of “Maa, Bahu, Saas, and the exploitative family members? How can one person be all good and another all evil, has never made sense to me. Add to this the background score of each of these shows - what’s with big drum roll for every turn the eye makes!

Maybe just maybe things will change? At our friends request we watched the show Akkara Kazhchakal on YouTube to realize that better shows could come into existence if only, people cared. The basic premise of the show is to show a Malayalam family living in the US – the daily trials and tribulations that they could face – all with a dose of humor often exaggerated situations but that which anyone who has lived here for a while could relate to. The show is not like a typical soap opera but looks more like a mirrors the daily life - not the dressed up poor bahu and the her saas always eating something.

So here’s hoping for a well deserved change.

Classic TV, anyone?

My oldest TV memory is not of any shows but about our black and white Crown TV with a shutter that I used to play with.The one show I really remember watching as probably a 5 year old is “Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot” this was about the time that doordarshan introduced half hour for children. All my kids would end our playtime early and run to watch this show from 7 PM. My favorite being the day that my cousin brother who used to claim everything in Bangalore is sooo much better than Bombay wrote to me after his trip to our place that summer, saying that he missed the show. :D

Much later with DD Metro started, we had shows like 100 (Ek Shuniya Shuniya) a Marathi cop show, and afternoon shows like Trishna. During summer DD Metro had shows from 12-1 just for kids with Baigan Raja, and other short stories etc. So many great shows like Malgudi Days (still love the haunting title music), Byomkesh bakshi (probably my first crush) Dekh Bhai Dekh, Fauji, Circus, Flop Show etc were hot fav's during the time it ran.

When I was around 10-12 Farmaan totally rocked my boat with its love story – the rudeness with which the Nawab dictated to the girl he loved and the way she stood her ground against him made it fun to watch. Great actors and a good plot. Surabhi was another fav that introduced us to Renuka Shahane.

There were other great shows too, though today I don’t remember much about them like – Nupur (Hema Malini), Udaan (Laalita (?) from the Surf ads … totally wanted me to become a cop when I grew up), Wagle ki duniya, Zabaan Sambhalke (though probably Mind your language was far better), Ek Do Teen Char – a kids show, Nukkad and so many more. Of course then there were the mythological ones on Sunday with Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Now memories is one thing but how many of these do you think can stand the test of time? I recently found Fauji on Netflix and ordered the set and towards the end, I was starting to get bored. On the contrary Dekh Bhai Dekh still seemed to tickle me with some of the antics of the Diwan family. Byomkesh Bakshi on you tube was still interesting enough (or maybe I still have a soft spot for the guy). I just noticed that they have Johnny Sokko on Netflix Instant watch – let’s see how that holds up to my childhood memories (this is the reason for this post about long forgotten shows)

Sometimes I do wish we have a "desi" TV land - which showcases the best of classic TV for the new generation.

Question: What were your favorite shows, back then? And which of them do you think you could still watch today?

Ed: Here's a comprehensive list that a blogger has put together. Impressive isn'it?