I do not like the Pears soap advt in which a little girl pushes away everybody(grandparents,father),eyes closed, till she reaches her mother. She wants to see only her Pears-soap-washed mother ‘kyonki aap mere liye lucky ho.’ So rude, and what a loving hug she gets for it!

Then there’s the Cadbury advt, in which a little girl licks up all the pieces so that she needn’t share them with anybody. And there are all those doting looks showered upon her.

So, all those of us who spent time teaching our children to respect elders, share whatever they had, who have lived with these values all our lives…..what are we? Misfits in today’s world? Plain idiots?

Children who refuse to imbibe anything but packed juices, who cannot be cajoled into eating anything but bowlfuls of noodles, children whose mothers thank Boost and Bournvita and Horlicks for keeping their children healthy—are we supposed to be proud of such bratty children and their silly mothers?

I have no patience with mothers who make a habit of asking their young children what they would like to eat. It’s such a sad way of passing on ill-health and blame onto a child not competent enough to understand what is to be eaten and what isn’t. Do ask, by all means, on the child’s birthday or when she is celebrating some small victory. Maybe on Sundays too. But for every meal???

Don’t children have a right to be taught to eat well, behave well and grow up into decent adults capable of co-existing with their families and the society at large?