SOUNDS ‘KIDDISH’?

Dr. A. Yuvaraj

Assistant Professor

Department of English

SSNCE

CARTOONS! Mere utterance of the word invokes fun, laughter, joy and mirth. But, most of us would often associate the word with kids. Do cartoons cast their spell only on the tiny tots? The answer to this question is purely subjective.  It is not uncommon to see parents often making a futile attempt to snatch the TV remote from their kids who are thoroughly mesmerised by their favourite cartoons.  In this fast paced world, we as adults are, at times, oblivious of our surroundings and thereby miss out on some of the commonplace, yet rejuvenating moments that can enliven our drooping spirits.          

   

‘Give us this day our daily bread with Amul butter’, ‘sachinnings are rare! Amul truly matchless’

Sounds a bit weird? These catchy lines would not have failed to arrest the attention of most of the road users in metros. Who can forget the hand-drawn cartoon of a round-eyed, chubby cheeked utterly butterly Amul girl, clad in a dotted frock with blue hair.  Is the butter more tantalising than the cartoon or is it the other way round?  Being one of the most significant factors in business, media, politics, entertainment, arts and even academics, cartoons have in fact come a long way.     

  ‘The Child is father of the Man’, the words of Wordsworth, one of the renowned romantic poets, convey the universal truth and also a clarion call to all of us to pause for while and take a trip down memory lane. Check out with your friends of the most cherished period in their lives and the immediate reply would be ‘childhood days’- a carefree life that guarantees limitless freedom to experiment, imagine, and above all to be ourselves. Great writers in the field of literature often bemoan the fading away of the child in us quite early and now thanks to technology, the process gets expedited.

Cartoons undoubtedly transport us to a ‘make-believe’ world and bring out the child in each one of us. They provide a momentary respite from the humdrum of life and rejuvenate our mind and help us weave our imagination without the fetters of reality and practicality.