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| Author Anand Suspi |
How and why has the experience of childhood changed in the past couple of decades and what are its pros and cons?
The age of technology has changed things in ways unimaginable, some good and several things not so positive. This is my perspective and one that children of today might disagree with (They could well be living their golden years of joy and imagination.) But from my point of view, technology has
subtracted more from childhood than it has added. Overexposure and oversimplification of the world has turned young minds into slaves of consumption and convenience - too many choices, reference points and relentless stimuli…
We are constantly assaulted by a deluge of data that no human mind can sensibly handle. Each day, the world is throwing more at us and in the process, taking away the time to savour anything. Nothing can buck this fundamental truth - The more the mind receives, the less the heart feels. I believe that as kids, our minds and hearts are at their expansive best before we grow up and filter everything through our realities. Our imagination is fertile and our dreams are larger-than- life. The daydreams of innocent minds is a wonderful journey and can only be experienced as children.
Unfortunately, technology has gatecrashed this and playing spoilsport. Attention spans have crashed. Simple moments of joy have become fleeting. Interaction with nature is almost non-existent. As Balki has put it beautifully in his foreword, “The children of today are more adults than the adults
themselves.”
My surmise is that while living has become simpler, life has gotten a lot more complicated, even at a young age. That’s unfortunate. Growing up years have to be flush with naivety, stupidity and curiosity. When we pull out phones or access the net for anything and everything, the charm of life is hugely diminished. Life cannot be a 24-hour live stream of a billion other lives. The challenge for parents today is to nurture the child in their children. That’s not easy.
About the Author
An advertising writer for over 20 years, he started with Mudra, Mumbai in 1995 and subsequently spent a large part of his career in Lowe Lintas working under Balki. He was the Creative Head of Lowe Delhi between 2007 and 2010. Currently, he lives in Gurgaon and is the co-founder of an ad agency called AndAnd Brand Partners.
Half Pants Full Pants is his first book, a sort of childhood autobiography set in Shimoga of the 70s and 80s. Given the era and milieu that he grew up in, it carries a flavor similar to that of Malgudi Days. The notable difference would be that every story is real and the characters are all in their mid-40s now, often reminiscing about the gloriousness of their growing up years.
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