The world through the eyes of a child

                              PLAY IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF RESEARCH
                                                        - Albert Einstein

We all know how children love the great outdoors. Give a child the choice of being indoors or playing oudoors, they would definately opt for the latter. Children as we all know, are spontaneous - they do not keep back or analyze what they have to say.

Have you ever watched a child at play in a park, or even in a little puddle of water that the rains have caused? He is all absorbed in his play, swinging on the swings, looking for that push to feel... for just a second like a bird soaring. See the kids splash around in that puddle, unaware of the germs or dirt in it. At times like these i too feel like jumping along with them - we all have a child hidden within us, and do hope we never lose that. What about that little kid who has just had a fall off the slide? She now knows that she must go up the slide the right way. Every little experience, good or bad, teaches them.

In the documentary, the little boy is pasting himself with mud. Watch the ecstasy written all over him, the joy and the mess he has created for himself is all about having fun.The kids seem to enjoy being the kids they they are surely having fun, "To learn we have to get dirty," quotes one little kid. SO TRUE !!!

I always believed, when my kids got home, the dirtier they were, the more they enjoyed themselves, mudstained clothes, clods of earth on their shoes, and not forgetting the largest inhabitants of this earth, the ants, they would have so many ant bites as they were always curious to watch the ants carry their food into the nests and once they nearly broke a mini ant nest.

Many a times, they would take their waterbottles with them, only to come back and tell us, that they have grown a mango seed in the soil and have watered it, with that water, so "Mom, in a few months we will be able to eat mangoes," with their huge eyes and blabber that could melt any mothers heart. (I, of course, melted completely) They took me to see their "mango sapling" and could not believe as the earth was all dug up and no sign of any mango seed, at that time they realised that they had to shelter the seed away from the dogs around the place. They had learnt the hard way, but they would never ever make that mistake.It's not so much what the kids learn through play but what they wont learn if we dont give them that chance to play.

After an outdoor play session, notice how happy the child is, his talking can go on forever, how the goalie should have saved the ball this way had he not been dreaming,

Every  face of the children who live in the city tell a tale, the longing of space, and the freedom that their inner selves long for.Like the girl who is riding the bike to get to school  in the documentary shows us, how happy she is although going to school.

 The great outdoors seen through the eyes of a child can never be the same for adults, the childs imagination runs wild here, he sees shadows lurking behind the cars and together with his gang of friends and all armed with  fallen branches they try and captures the imaginary enemy. The little girl places a flower in her hair, and preens, like she is a Queen. Many a times, I have watched the kids play below my window,and have noticed how they enjoy stoning at "that" guava and after it was down, they would all take bites (still cant figure out how tiny each bite was,) but nonetheless they seemed to be enjoying the camaraderie.

Recently there was a dead sparrow, and who could have spotted it first but of course the kids, who are always looking for adventure. Their beady eyes missing nothing, saw it and the eldest of them just a teeny weeny 7 year old, decided to bury the little bird, he called his friends, all smaller than him and dug a pit, put in the bird, and covered it up with a mound of mud, and all left with a sense of solemnity. I was intrigued,  these little 7 to 5 year olds had shown their love and respect for the little bird, in narrating this, would like to say that being in the outdoors gave them this opportunity.

We parents must know that besides their academic scores which is important as their play, everything needs a balance in life, unbalanced kids can be a nuisance to society and ultimately, tiresome adults, so the responsibility lies on us parents and our ability to help them balance work and play.The children in this documentary are so stressed leaves them no time to enjoy the great outdoors, physical excersise  would be nothing compared to the mental stress that they go through.The boy clearly say"favourite part of the day is, when I play with my friends,"
In the words of L.R.Knost," “For a child, it is in the simplicity of play that the complexity of life is sorted like puzzle pieces joined together to make sense of the world.”

Dr.Ashok Jansari, in this documentary, stresses on the balance between academics and play, he states that going out and playing is an opportunity the children alongwith having fun, and how we parents must see that we they get their dose of outdoor play, he stresses that all their inner skills develop at a young age when they have been exposed to this "form" of learning.
My theory has always been fusing work with play, as you walk along the garden teach them colours of the flowers, show them the birds nests, mango blossoms, the cuckoos and the crows, the cycle and the motorcycle.

What a wonderful experience it is just being with the little ones, their eager eyes grasping every little thing that passes by and their ears taking in every sound of the wind or the whistle of the mynah.


  “Go and play. Run around. Build something. Break something. Climb a tree. Get dirty. Get in some trouble. Have some fun.”

― Brom, The Child Thief