Memories of another day

Watching a stage production of Kenneth Grahamersquos childrenrsquos classic The Wind in the Willows published in 1908 was sheer nostalgia for those of us who grew up reading childrenrsquos literature from the West a lot of it from EnglandEven today the most popular series of childrenrsquos books feature an English boy Harry Potter But there was a generation that avidly consumed books by Enid Blyton her Famous Five Secret Seven and Mallory Towers series in particularCity kids particularly in concrete jungle Mumbai imagined a life of adventure and solving crimes in a lush countrysideArtists enacting Kenneth Grahamersquos childrenrsquos classic The Wind in the Willows in NCPA Summer Fiesta 2014 at Godrej Dance Theatre NCPA PicNarendra DangiyaThey had never packed picnic baskets and had hot buttered scones with clotted cream so many readers had never studied in boarding school and had midnight feasts but it was fun to have a picture of that life and maybe aspire itThe tomboyish George became a hero for so many little girls Add to the list Billy Bunter and Biggles and from the US Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys so many summers spent in a dreamy haze befriending characters from books that stayed on in the memory foreverThe stories were simple perhaps apt for a more uncomplicated age Todayrsquos kids wean on special effects and really sophisticated animation need magicians dragons and tales that can be turned into blockbuster movie seriesIn the production by Nagpur group Stagecraft directed by Vikash Khurana the animals from Grahamersquos story appear in simple costumes with the appropriate animal headgearMumbai kids in the audience are amused by the antics of the animal characters but also a bit bewildered because they had never heard of and certainly never seen badgers otters moles ferrets stoats that probably inhabit a quaint English riversideMany may not even have seen rats or toads for that matter The story about friendship and loyalty however reaches across time and cultural boundaries Grahamersquos characters help their friend Toad who is reckless and irresponsible When Toad goes to jail for causing an accident and his mansion occupied by evil squatters his friends Rat Mole Otter and Badger help him in the fight to get it backThere was no darkness complex villainy revenge suffering or violence Childrenrsquos literature was exciting to read in a good way and propagated all the oldfashioned values without ever seeming to preachKids in picturesque English villages seemed to have so much fun running about solving mysteries looked upon fondly by grownups who supplied the lemonade cakes cucumber and watercress sandwiches and the scones which when finally seen and tasted turned out to be mundane bread roll kind of edibles not quite worthy of so much anticipationIn the past most kids spent their vacation visiting relatives now they attend extra tuition classes or activities that would help in their future career Some of the wealthy ones travel to exotic destinations Workshops and summer camps are a relatively newfangled thing The charm of simplicity is quite lostThe brat called Zeus in the play Rusty Screws by Meherzad Patel seen again because of Boman Iranirsquos special appearance is the typical Mumbai tween When first seen he is fast asleep on the couch with his cell phone plastered to his faceIn spite of his parentsrsquo attempt to teach him manners and inculcate some semblance of civility Zeus played by Siddharth Merchant is cheeky disobedient swears for which he is fined Rs 10 and calls his mother lsquoDudersquo much to her annoyanceHis parents have just been summoned by the school principal Boman Irani because Zeus and other boys played a prank that involved flinging lsquoprophylactic latexrsquo as the principal says with some embarrassment and the boy prefers to be expelled rather than reveal the names of his cohortsThe enforced holiday means he has to visit his grandfather in a home for senior citizens and he does so unwillingly and shows just enough affection towards the old man Danesh Khambata for the audience not to write him off as irreparable Zeus probably gets his impatience and apathy from his father Danesh Irani who eventually learns a lesson in family values from his best friendBut Zeus is the kind of kid one seems to see a lot of loud mannerless uncaring of authority and utterly selfish parents probably being too busy to pay attention to their kidsrsquo demands their world revolves around looking for ways to break rules annoy adults and hang out with friendsThey are rebels without even a proper cause And they probably donrsquot read because their video games TV and gizmos take up all their leisure The two plays seen within the span of a week give such a disparate view of life and childhood It makes you want to get into a time machine and go back to a gentler time of Enid Blytonrsquos books except now her stories are denounced as racist classist sexist and all manner of nastyDeepa Gahlot is an awardwinning film and theatre critic and an arts administrator You can follow her on twitter deepagahlot