Interview with a 5 year old

The loud noise in the background was that of my son, he was talking to his cars, sometimes shouting then yelling and smiling at times, yes 5 year olds do things that sometimes seem insane to us older lots. While I watched him do so amidst the cool breeze that was brushing past my stubbled exterior, I challenged my mind the traveler that it is to take me back in time to an age when I was a little boy. My mind zipped past in reverse, counting the years backward with efficient speed, my first step in Mumbai, the days back college, all through school, the playground in the backyard with the guava tree towering above the little man made pond, the fishing bouts with my friends at the lake, the jelly fish bite on the beach, the beating we got as kids near chikku wadi, and then suddenly it came to a grinding halt where I found myself to be all of 10 years old, on my blue cycle with white tyre rims, zipping down the pass near bushi dam. I tried but failed to latch myself to a straw that would pull my mind back a few more years to a point when I was 5 but I failed and gave up. I wanted to know how I felt when I was five and what my son now feels right now. Having tried and failed I decided to observe him much more closely, by doing so I taught myself a few lessons that are gems in their own right.

5 year olds I am told live in the “here and now”, they take delight in the things that are happening around them at that very moment. If they are playing with cars, they put on the mask of drivers, if its nuts and bolts they are playing with, they are efficient engineers, if it’s a puzzle, there ain’t no amount of chocolates that can distract them, I tried alluring him with chocolates once while he was deciphering the pooh puzzle, and learnt another truth, there is always time for a quick bite of the dark sweet temptation that we all call chocolate. He had his chocolate and ate it too and went right back into his creative maize.

What surprises me all of the time is the challenging times our kids live in. In our concerted effort and attempt at getting him admission into a new school we both my wife and I took him to the new school and sat in the admission head’s cabin, after the customary hello’s and a few signatures on a some very important sheets of paper we were asked to leave the room, so that she could interact with the child one-on-one. I was hesitant, as any father would be, how can i leave him alone, he needs me’ he always has. I requested the lady if one of us could stay as he might feel intimidated, she sternly said “LEAVE” now. We left, shoulders drooping, and slumped ourselves into the sofa in the waiting room. The sofa was too comfortable any lower and our bottoms would be touching the cold concrete floor below us. The next 10 minutes seemed like an eternity, we were tensed, anxious, and extremely emotional. How could a 5 year old deal with a situation he has never been in, fielding questions from a stranger, answers to which would define the path his life takes here on end? The images of his little fingers, his tiny toes, his first gurgle, the first steps he took and the many others I helped him with flashed against the, by now weak walls of my mind, and it was brought to halt all of a sudden by the loud shriek of the door bell that rang from inside the cabin. We had been called, I was a nervous wreck by then, what would she tell us, how did my son do? I had conditioned myself to hear the worst, but the smile on my sons’ face and the pleasant contours of the teachers face brought some delight to mine. He did well. That was my proudest moment yet, I must say.

My lesson in life; Even a five year old has his moments of truth, even 5 year olds need to take a stand, adapt, compete, deal with stress, and deliver. As a parent you can be as protective as you want to be, teach as much as you can, hold on to them as long as you want, but then there comes time when you need to let go and hope they live life by the lessons you have taught them. Memories are made of these, and lessons are there to be learnt every moment of our living lives.

My son learnt his, while I learnt mine.