Invincible kid

One of the greatest things about being a kid was the overwhelming sense of invulnerability. I was charmed. I was lucky. I was invincible. Nothing could happen to me, because I was Imran Ashraf (Yes role name reversal to Ashraf Imran came much later) the discoverer... the bravest SUPER BRAT my small town can ever have. By the age of 12 I have already killed 15 cats many rats, fishes, birds, frogs, snakes, puppies all died in the name of bravery or army training.

But I was invincible... that was the bottom line

Even when I was riding my hero ranger to the bazaar and got hit by a car, I was still convinced of my invincibility. I figured that if I survived, my winning streak was still intact.

Of course, my parents had different feelings on the subject. To them, I was just another accident-prone unwanted 2nd gift of god… whose short-term memory blotted out the time I broke my arm, broke my collarbone, lacerated my wrist, or received countless scrapes and bruises. Can you believe I have once ran and jumped straight out of balcony into the guava tree!!! It’s a different thing I couldn’t catch a branch and got a 20-day medical leave from school. I never believed I could be seriously injured, even though these incidents -- and many others -- happened over many years.

My parents did though. Mothers are keenly aware of the dangers the world poses to their children. But they don't have the same fears kids do; my fear was some other kid would perform that daring act before me…

Instead, parents were, and still are, afraid of scarier things like accidents, injuries, and kidnappers. But we never thought about those things when we were kids. We had our minds on more serious matters, like how many stair steps can we cover in a single jump kind of.

Of course, when you're an awkward, gangly 10-year-old, getting out of bed is usually the first step in a whole chain of trouble. The rest of the day would just go downhill from there.

Whenever I would report my latest wacky escapade to them, sparing no detail of how I narrowly escaped a gruesome death (again) my mother would lecture me endlessly on how I needed to be more careful and I used to assure her that no harm would ever befall me -- I was a kid, so I was invincible -- and that she didn't need to worry. She didn't buy it.

Fast-forward 15 years. I am in my late 20’s living in Bangalore with kids or neo brats all round me. I am the trusted watchdog of their mothers for weekends. As long as they are under my supervision they are not supposed to hurt themselves… die in the line of duty or kill each other.
These kids under my supervision are the future psychopaths of the society. You meet these kids and you understand why some animals eat their young ones.

They run, jump, and climb with reckless abandon, not even thinking of the dangers that await them. They think nothing of racing up to a balcony railing, and they youngest girl in my charge wants to pet any dog she sees.

"Look, Uncle (yeah they call me uncle), a big dog. He has a lot of teeth. What's that foamy stuff coming out of his mouth? Can I pet him?"

Needless to say, I have serious nightmares involving injuries, dismemberment, or worst of all wraths of their parents.

And true to the Parents' Curse, these children don't believe me when I try to make them understand they're not as invincible as they think. So whenever I discuss personal safety, they just stare blankly at me, like I've grown a nose out of my forehead, and it's talking to them. My voice is just a low hum to them, and they only recognize certain words like “chocolate” or “lets play etc etc…” Whatever game I invent they change the rules. I am sure they can include mortal danger and bloodshed even in games like carom or chess.

For few weeks now they are planning to go to Nandi hills with me… I hope I leave Bangalore before this nightmare turns reality.

*****************************************************