The reader might be surprised at the question, some might even think it is provocative, sensational, or whatever. For me, however, it is a question waiting to be answered for a long, long time. It is relevant today more than ever.
Are parents guilty of destroying their children's childhood? Along with the rat-race beginning in elementary school and sometimes in kindergarten, childhood in the twenty-first century appears to be a period of diminishing returns. Parents give their children mobiles and computers lovingly and destroy their sense of wonder. The previous generations did not do so, not because they were enlightened and wiser, but because they couldn't: there were no mobile phones and computer games. Present-day parents no doubt have good intentions. All the same, they are doing tremendous damage to their children, and to their children's sense of wonder. To destroy or not to destroy is the question. And, it is time we gave it some thought, some serious thought. In the good old days children climbed trees, ran around in the fields, and engaged in all kinds of physical activities simply for the joy of it. They were fortunate. Parents, as yet, did not possess weapons of mass destruction as they do today. God save the children from their parents who gift their children mobiles and bless parents who don't! Children previously discovered the mysteries of nature directly. They were more alive than the children of today. Direct experience was the way, and not a tiny or big screen. No virtual reality. Live the real life. Does living in a a hi-tech world make us "poor"? Do our children have to be satisfied with virtual reality and simulation, and less and less of reality? Is first-hand experience of reality a luxury in our world today? Is this a life for children? Nobel Prize winners are invited to Goa every year. I have never heard a discussion on the importance of a sense of wonder. Isn't it important? For me, at least, it is. Without a sense of wonder and curiosity, is it possible to be able to do original work? And doggedly follow an idea which at the start is no more than a small flicker of light at the end of the tunnel of a discovery? Can there be a substitute for living which is the source of inspiration? The germ of an idea, more often than not, begins when we are young. A scientist might spend decades working on an idea before it matures and s/he ultimately wins the Nobel Prize. But that is another story. It all began in childhood, feeling the heartbeat of the universe. Not virtual reality. A rich childhood lived in nature and observation of nature is the key to great discoveries for it sharpens and shapes and inspires an individual's vision in any field, in any intellectual discipline. The seeds, however, can only be sown in childhood.