6 packs

At home, we discuss a lot about health and fitness.  The basic idea of '6 packs' is something that Aditya always gets excited about.  Many time he removes his clothes, poses like a body builder and asks "do you see my 8 packs?".  Do not tell him this, I usually spot 8 bones there.

Also, on many occasions he punches my abs and says…"well its quite tight, but Dad! you have only 4 packs….go do some more work out…!!"  I get loads of free advices from my 9 year old on this topic.  Anyways I'm on my way, like any other men who can dream, on this 'packs' topic.  But in reality, I don't regret and I'm glad that even I have 6 packs.  They are well protected under a thick layer of fat.  Its just that I'm not ready to show it off yet.

It was a lazy late Saturday evening and the whole family was huddled in our car to do some shopping.  When we reached Aundh Parihar Chowk in Pune, suddenly Aditya screamed. He was certainly excited about something.  Pointing his finger towards something outside he said "Wow Appa! Look at these 6 packs…..! They are so Cool....".   For a flash of a second I thought he was showing an ad for a newly sprouted Gym in the neighborhood.  When I bent down to see what he was showing I was under a chill for a brief moment.  At the same instance even Meera noticed this and gave a gentle press on my shoulder indicating that something was going wrong (this is a most common routine these days).  I wanted to appear as if I wasn't embarrassed about the situation, kept my cool and asked "What is cool about it?" .  What he showed me was an ad hoarding for a male c*****m product.  The ad read "why boys like 6 packs".  There were 6 different colorful flavored  c*****m packets displayed under 4000 watts flood lights.

"Appa! is this a similar protein supplement that we saw in Gold Gym? What is a  c*****m and why they are flavored? What does it do to our 6-packs? Why don't you start using them? (Damn….!!!)" ....the flood gates opened and the flow of questions from my dearest son started gushing yet another time.

I'm always ready to give a lecture to anyone about this protection (protected?) topic. But chums, don't you think a 9 year old is too early to be my student for this subject?

Epilogue: Any ways, I'm aware that the ad makers target the young and the little ones to create a strong influence about the product or brand they put on their ad campaign.  The ad companies started these techniques with Health Drinks, Biscuits, Chocolates, Ice Creams, Diapers, Detergents ... now a days even Automobiles….Insurance products….Paints…even Engine Oils.  This approach is certainly doing a lot of good things to the campaign.  But certainly we are not in the age where children have started to influence, knowingly or unknowingly, the products used by their parents in private.

I'm always enthralled by the creativity of the ad designers.  My son and all the little monsters out there in every family see some of these ads and ultimately get creative for all wrong reasons.  To keep it simple, I'm not prepared to see them discussing such topics at this age.

Congratulation ad companies!!!  I'm no longer worried about 6 packs.  As a responsible parent, whether I buy your products or not, I'm deeply worried about your advertisement contents.

Travel plans...

Its quite usual to find Aditya feeling jealous whenever I share any of my travel plans with him. Well..he is quite unhappy when I talk about any of my international trips...any trip closer to Switzerland or USA or anyone travelling in airplanes.  This comes to him like someone going for a short trip to the heaven. As per him this can happen only for few gifted individuals. I usually tease him either by talking about such trips or showing him the pictures or sharing my experiences of the places that I had visited.

I was sharing my upcoming business trip to Germany followed by a weeklong trip in Switzerland in May. We talked about our last family vacation in Switzerland and remembered how 'cool' the trip was.  But, this time, I found it quite unusual to see Aditya not showing much interested in the conversation. When I asked he said "Appa, you can no longer tease me with your Europe trips...as I have bigger plans".  I was amused by this. "What has changed so much in such a short time?"

"What kind of plan do you have?" I asked

"When I grow bigger I'll be to travelling to even farther places.  Such places are always 'cool'" I saw a sheer excitement in his words.

"South America?.....Australia?.....Antartica?....Arctic?...Russia?....Mongolia?" I shot a series of country and continent names in a desperate attempt to find out his ‘bigger and cooler’ plans.

I was baffled when I received a 'No' for all these....

He continued and said..."I'll be going to places where no one has gone before....I'll be going in my space ship...the rocket pack...and visit galaxies and planets, humans have never thought of visiting. One will not find any 'travel advise' to visit such places because these are places never visited by anyone and never explored....these are really special places only accessible to smart and very intelligent astronauts like me"

P.S I see a lot of determination in him whenever I hear about his ‘future’ plans. He wants to become an astronaut and the dream continues. For the first time I was feeling jealous. 

Note:  Don't miss to see Aditya inside his astronaut suite

Contentment

Date: 8-Jan-2011

Time: 9.30 PM

Moment:  I was watching a movie in the television.

Aditya sees a Ferrari in the movie and expresses a "Wow!!"  I looked at him and asked "hm...here comes a Ferrari for you".   "Appa do you know why there are just two seats in the sports car" Aditya asked.  The sports cars have to be lighter and not for carrying more people.  Also they look really nice with just two seats, less space occupied, can go faster......." I replied confidently with my little knowledge on automobiles.

"Well..." after a pause "I think the second seat is for taking girl friends" Aditya continued....

I paused for a moment and asked whether he would take me in his car whenever he buys it.  "Possible....but I will have to custom make the car with holders for your 'walking stick', 'denture' and 'reading glasses' which will make the car bigger.

I felt proud to see my son unleashing his creative thoughts.

"Its also going to be a problem for you to sit in a fast car like this, because old people like you (?) can't stand the speed of such cars.  Moreover, I will not be driving the car the way you drive your Honda City (?), so you stick to your old Honda City...." This was really an insult for someone like me who always thinks 20 years younger.

He is also not happy with the City that I have....as as per his standards its not a 'cool' car.

Epilogue:  My father never owned an automobile in his life, forget cars or bikes, not even a bi-cycle.  I could afford a four wheeler only when I was 28 years old.  During my childhood bi-cycle tires or pressure cooker gaskets were the hot wheels, hand made wooden carts with broken or used ball bearings were the real wheels.  Aditya was born in the age of 'modern automobiles and technologies' and I find this generation to have lost an appreciation for small things and also not being contented with whatever they have.  They want the latest Ben 10's, latest Bay Blades, latest automobiles, latest Hot Wheels;  everything latest or newest or the coolest.  The best of all was 'latest version of Bournvita'. One version older is not acceptable. They are increasingly interested in more 'material possessions' and nothing in the world can satisfy them enough.  You buy one today and there comes the need for another...and the story continues.

P.S. My father feels the same about me too, huh!