I was always a day dreamer, I still am. Like anyone of you I also have no count of how many such dreams I must have had, but they keep changing – the ideas, the environment, the people in them, the moments, the achievements and almost everything in there. They were ever changing, until I had this one dream. I have had this one for almost ten years now and I hope I will be able to realize it the way I want to.
As a child I also grew up reading fairy tales. What intrigued me was that the girls in there were always vulnerable. I never wanted to be that one. As I grew older I realized that girls are not actually that way, they are just portrayed so , and sometimes even expected to be so. The society has set rules for them. They should be sweet, fair-skinned, always well-dressed, submissive and so on, but these rules are just not meant to help anyone out there. Similarly boys are expected to be physically and mentally strong, never cry, never wear pink, and so on. Well these again never help anyone.
As I grew up and became a little bit more sensible I realized that this was not just it – stereotyping is a big thing in our world. It hit me hardest when my three year old came back from school and told me “pink is for girls and blue is for boys”. Since then she has always wanted pink clothes, toys, books and my house is filled with pink merchandise now. No convincing tricks worked on her little mind. At this young age when she is busy figuring out things for herself, I want her to get her basics right and not go by what marketers have been celebrating for years to sell off their well-meaningly-built products. Like small drops make a might ocean, these little kids of today will grow up and make the world tomorrow. Every clear thought/ idea in them will help in shaping the future of this world. If they get more of the wrong ideas – well the future is going to be bleak for our planet. On the other hand, if they get a few good ones, the future might be a lot better.
Every day I come across incidents or instances which make me feel that we have to do something for the kids who hold the future in their little closed fists. That is how I started reading and learning child psychology after ten years in the tech management industry and this new adventure interested me like nothing else. It helps me manage my kid better (which has definitely been the best benefit until now). I realized that there are some really cool ways to understand kids, to manage them and to help them grow as wonderful humans. It is just that this content is probably available only in books/ media for adults (parents/ teachers/ other caregivers) who may or may not find the time to go through them. Everything need not interest everyone. So that is when I decided to do something involving the kids themselves. Also, having been a proponent of knowledge sharing all my life, I decided that I should for sure share this knowledge in a perspicuous manner with my fellow beings and most importantly kids. The launch of Rainbow Kiddies is about laying the foundation stone towards realizing this dream of mine. Finally I am starting to work on a dream which I have been polishing and nurturing for almost ten years now.
Rainbow Kiddies aims to create content and activity books that will help kids understand themselves and other people better. It intends to help children grow up as better human beings – loving, caring, understanding themselves and their fellow beings. It intends to make them emotionally healthy so they can nurture these qualities. To start off I will be publishing my activity/ story books on amazon.com. I am trying really hard to make the content easily understandable. Well, if at any point of time, you find something illogical or needing more explanation please do let me know by email or comments. Would be happy to make changes to my content if necessary. Hoping to enjoy this new journey thoroughly and be able to make at least a small difference to our world before my journey ends.
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