This story happens in the US of A.
It is a kid's birthday party.
He tells his mom he wants to call Elizabeth who's in his class.
Mom asks, "Is she white, or black?"
"Just a minute, I'll check with her."
* * *
This was supposed to be a joke. The innocence part is probably a bit exaggerated. But the conditioning that we go through in our early years, and the effect that is has on us, remains a fact.
I hear about a Jew who grew up in Canada. How the family members injected racism into their bloods when they were kids. How "saving Israel" became their first priority in life. And how she felt ashamed of it when she grew up and got to know more about Israel. And how she became an outsider, an "agent", at home..
Showing posts with label Children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Children. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Monday, April 09, 2007
The Little Prince
"Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves and it is rather tedious for children to have to explain things to them time and again.."
"..So the astronomer repeated his demonstration in 1920, dressed in an elegant suit. And this time everybody was convinced.."
After a long time I'm reading a book till the end..
Or so I thought when I started reading it.
Because The Little Prince started out interesting enough, it tried to avoid the kind of language that only the grown-ups understand, the words used did not demand having a dictionary by my side, and the book was so small.. I thought this time I'm surely going to finish it, for a change.
But that was not to be. After four or five chapters it got monotonous, and by the time it got to the flower and the King, it saturated; the words remained simple but the language became more of that of the grown-ups.. and (The Little Prince fans, forgive me) I could not move further. I gave up.
Still I think it was worth knowing that such a book existed. And it has been in existence for more than sixty years now. (Incidentally, one of these days I also found an advertisement of a version in Malayalam, as a series in Balabhumi.)
I'm still waiting.. to find a book that can hold me till the end!
[Image source: Wikipedia]
"..So the astronomer repeated his demonstration in 1920, dressed in an elegant suit. And this time everybody was convinced.."
After a long time I'm reading a book till the end..
Or so I thought when I started reading it.
Because The Little Prince started out interesting enough, it tried to avoid the kind of language that only the grown-ups understand, the words used did not demand having a dictionary by my side, and the book was so small.. I thought this time I'm surely going to finish it, for a change.
But that was not to be. After four or five chapters it got monotonous, and by the time it got to the flower and the King, it saturated; the words remained simple but the language became more of that of the grown-ups.. and (The Little Prince fans, forgive me) I could not move further. I gave up.
Still I think it was worth knowing that such a book existed. And it has been in existence for more than sixty years now. (Incidentally, one of these days I also found an advertisement of a version in Malayalam, as a series in Balabhumi.)
I'm still waiting.. to find a book that can hold me till the end!
[Image source: Wikipedia]
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