How children craft their own escapes

If Alice in Wonderland has taught us anything, it’s that children have their own escape routes, and their world of make-believe is its own reality.

If Alice in Wonderland has taught us anything, it’s that children have their own escape routes, and their world of make-believe is its own reality.

In times of crisis, the young can often find their own way.(Unsplash)

In times of crisis, the young can often find their own way. They will take cues from their parents, but how well they are able to adjust to new and trying circumstances can depend on a range of other factors — their age, personality, imagination, previous exposure to adversity, and the degree of confidence and safety they feel in their home environment.

Dual realities

Rhianna Majumder, 12, a student of La Martiniere, Kolkata, has her feet in two worlds. There are her online lessons, the newspaper, her current-affairs scrapbook, watching classics with her parents. And her secret other world, which she retreats to when she feels anxious, that lives in her diary. “Writing the daily diary is my most important daily ritual. I pour out my thoughts and feelings. In my dream world, I have many, many friends waiting for me. They know my secrets,” she says.

There are also more somber notes. Rhianna gathers casual throwaway remarks by her parents at the dining table. “Budget cuts, job losses, daily-wage earners losing livelihood all feature in their conversations. I think we will value the food, shelter and clothing, the basics so to say, and be frugal in our spending from now on,” she says.

Children growing up amid the pandemic are marked by a certain world-weariness. Orra Singh, 9, a student of KR Mangalam World School, Delhi, has “too many engagements”. “I have no free time,” she says, echoing what many adults are feeling too. The initial challenge of doing online classes on Zoom, catching her teacher’s attention with 30 other classmates simultaneously on the screen, of trying to ask questions via MacBook Pro, she has now got the hang of.

She misses her routine. “I feel stuck at home. I can’t meet friends and since a pizza delivery man caught the virus in Delhi, can get no pizza either.” Her pets – the seven cats at home and 20 in her lane -- keep her sane, she says. Her silver lining is that her dad, a professional photographer who spends most of the year in Dubai, has been at home since Holi.

Looking ahead

Who is more scared now – the child or the parent? “Mum has more at stake than me,” says Pramit Kumar Das, 17, a student of DPS, RK Puram, who lives in Delhi with his brother and mother. “She has us, the home to look after and her office work too.”

Helping with housework is helping Pramit zone out. He is steering clear of end-of-the-world books and is reading the Koran, having finished BR Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste. Both are things he wants to discuss with friends once the lockdown lifts.

Most youngsters seem to be living for that day. When it arrives, Rhianna will walk around her neighbourhood. Orra will meet her best friend. And Pramit will go to school and “hug the girl I like”.

(This story has been published from a wire agency without modifications to the text)

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