Twinkling Stars??

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,
How I wonder what you are...

Well,this rhyme just brings a smile to my lips..as my mind goes back to my nursery days.More often than not the kids were and still are judged by how well they are able to dole out the rhymes or just perform in front of the guests,school or in any public gathering .And if the kid is not in a good mood or throws up a tantrum then the worst awaits it.

I remember when I was the guest in my relative's place, the kid in the house was as usual asked to "perform" . The mom specifically asked the kid to sing either "Twinkle Twinkle" or the equally famous " Jonhny , Jonhny" . Unmindful of its mother, the kid sang "Odi Vilaiyadu Paapa" Bharathiyar's famous song for children. I can recall how the mother's expression changed from utter disgust to anger..and she stopped her kid right in the middle and said.."You know , she is very good in English Rhymes..just that she is a little scared on seeing you all !!" I just looked around to make sure there were no aliens from another planet to scare the little one. May be the mother was referring to herself !!

My heart just goes out to the kids who are made to do all sorts of things so that they can go around saying that my kid is the best. Whereas in reality, they are no more than a ringmaster and a scared to death tiger in a circus.
I wonder what the very same parents would do if they are in the child's shoes..Imagine the child introducing its father t0 its friend " Hey you know my father is a great dancer, common daddy dance ." When he doesn't dance , the child might even say.."He only dances to my mother's tunes you know.!! "

My aunt argues that in doing all these she is removing the stage fear and making the child fearless. She's right in a way..the stage fear is gone..but the fear of failure is instilled very deep in their minds. For, one wrong move , and the child could be in deep trouble for embarrassing the whole family. I'd say..you asked for it in the first place.

This is no exaggeration at all. I've really seen kids who go through this huge parental pressure to not only do their best, but to win every time, just lands on the earth with a big "thud" the minute it fails.Neither the parents nor the kid knows how to handle it.

Are we creating twinkling stars or falling meteors?