All the world's a stage...

All the world’s a stage…
My kids go to a school where all the children are exposed to plays, dance, music and public speaking at a very young age.
During my childhood, only a select few got the opportunity. Those selected were either good at speaking, teacher’s kids or cutlery (chamchas)
I was fortunate to get a role in a play as early as KG. I played a tree and I had to stand still holding some branches in front of me. Well…I turned a new leaf after that.
I got a bigger part in Grade 1. It was an “Emraan hashmiesque” role where i got to kiss my stage wife at the end! I was the main actor during primary school but my budding career ended after that.
I participated in a fair share of elocutions and debates but I was a nervous wreck. My knees used to shake like a rattlesnake on tequila.
I love to watch the programmes in my kid’s school.
Especially the little ones who go on stage for the first time.
The school has a state- of- the- art auditorium. Kids have collar mikes. There is a video grapher and the event is even projected on a giant screen on stage.
The girls are usually dressed up in pretty frocks or gowns and their faces have make up. They give you a sneak preview of how they will look when they are 18!
The boys dress in tuxedos or suits and with make up too... So your son starts looking like your daughter.
There is this little fella who has rehearsed the nursery rhyme at school, strictly following the method that his teacher has drilled into him. The parents add some last minute changes which has the kid thoroughly confused. By the time he goes on stage, he has a full bladder and an empty mind.
He has been told to stand on the X marked on the stage, so he remembers to do that. Then he strains his eyes, let's his retina adjust to the darkness in the hall, furrows his eyebrows and looks for his parents. He can't find them, because all he sees is a firing squad of hi tech cameras aimed at him with huge lenses like bazookas. The mother has her face covered behind her iPad. She is keen to get the perfect video recording of her star child, so that she can post it online quicker than breaking news on CNN.
The kid is staring blankly.
The class teacher who is hunching next to the first row of VIPs is whispering "Twinkle twinkle little star...” while enacting it with her hands, like she is changing some low hanging light bulb.
The kid is still staring blankly…
The mother now worries that her recording has been on for 32 seconds and junior is wasting precious megabytes. She doesn't let go of the iPad but starts mouthing twinkle twinkle to urge junior.
Her head is rocking back and forth behind that tablet. From afar, she looks like some Shaolin kungfu expert about to break a tile with her forehead.
The father is kneeling some metres away like a trained sniper. One eye closed, the other eye on the target. Cross hair on the forehead, ready to shoot...
By this time, the little star has lost all his twinkle.
Just about then, he sees from the corner of his eye that he is on the big screen! He decides to turn a bit and admire himself. And while he is doing that, he senses that there is a tantalizing blob of booger ripe for picking...
His forefinger starts its journey towards his nostril and he finds it thrilling to see the progress on the big screen. The teacher and the parents are singing twinkle twinkle little star in a trigonometric chorus, in a desperate hope that their chanting will reach his ear and distract him from the task at hand.
It’s too late. His booger seeking finger finds the blob. He hears their singing. Suddenly it all comes back and the 5 year old realizes his raison d’etre. He joins the chorus, still multi tasking with his forefinger and completes the rhyme with a flourish “…up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky!”
He even remembers to bow and walks off rubbing his finger on the tuxedo.
Crouching tiger and hidden dragon are upset that the footage is not upload worthy and even forget to applaud.
Not a great debut, but then, life is not about how you start but how you finish.
I confess that I have been guilty of this as well, but as parents, it is a constant struggle to find the right balance. How to encourage without being pushy.  Make them participate even if they are not good at something without feeling self conscious. We should accept our kids for whom they are. Not try to mould them into what you want them to be or should I say, not mould them into what you couldn’t be.
And while I like the social media, I feel that some encouragement and a warm hug feels much better than counting likes on Facebook.