Terrors of Hindi cartoons

In the modern age of Doraemon, and Motu Patlu, children are bound to embrace the language they hear the most; the one they associate entertainment with!

We have all seen at least one child running around and screaming some random Hindi phrase at the top of their lungs. What starts out as a cutesy phrase or two, ends up into a full blown conversation, often not as adorable as it was before. And the biggest culprit behind the whole ordeal is the black box we all have, commonly called the TV.

Azwad, a young seven year old boy, is no exception to this. He sits on the couch, hours at an end without taking a break, just so he doesn't miss out on any of the scenes of his favourite television programmes. Azwad's parents have all but given up on him and his addiction to the cartoons.

Every breakfast, lunch, dinner and any snacks in between, has to be served in front of the television, otherwise he just would not touch the food on his plate. And to appease him, Azwad's parents let him do as he pleases. Anything to make their son finish his food!

They let his behaviour slide until one day they are called to the principal's office, only to find out that their son refuses to communicate with his peers in English, and responds to all the questions only in Hindi. However, Azwad's parents were not the only ones who were facing this problem; many other parents were called for the very same reason.

We do get that it will be very difficult (read 'nearly impossible') to make children stop watching cartoons, however it has become essential for parents to maintain some rules to ensure that this Hindi speaking trend soon dies down. It might be difficult in the beginning but replacing the Hindi cartoons with the original English content or re-dubbed in Bangla may be a step in the right direction.

In all honesty, the fun aspect of 'chingam ke chingam se bachna impossible hai' will run out real soon, and all we will be left with, is a future generation which uses a foreign language, instead of speaking their own! And taking pride in it.

Photo: Collected