Saturday, October 15, 2011

IODEX




There was this old joke doing the rounds in college- Question, “What is the height of innocence”?  Answer, “Pregnant woman rubbing Iodex.”
Well that was a trifle naughty joke. And can be exercised in circle of friends during banter. There are then statements that may be intended as jokes but when pronounced at the wrong place, at the wrong time can create an awful lot of embarrassment. And when it originates from an adult it may be frowned upon, and may create a piquant situation. Which tells that jokes apart, one must as an adult have common sense in good proportion and good judgment, lest an occasion of banter will be transformed a spoiled stage?

But the liberty and license to thrill and kill are with the toddlers and the little ones. The little children who walk with unsteady steps and utter matters that sometimes thrills to kill you. Embarrass you to no end, evoke erupting laughter, and hush silence in agape and sheer comical situations too. It is height of innocence and witty at that!

“It is not a bad thing that children should occasionally and politely put their parents in their place.”

It was quite a few years ago and my niece was growing out of toddle. She was taken one day to the zoo in Thpuram by her parents. I guess she was two years old at that time. Moving around the enclosures she was carried by her father, my sister’s husband. As usual, when little children are taken to zoo- the arena where primates are enclosed, that would be a fascinating halting point. So my sister and brother in law hung around with the little girl around the enclosure where they had the baboons and chimps. That day had quite a good commune of people at the zoo. The little girl was so thrilled and elated with the primates inside. That she refused to leave the area. My brother in law was carrying her prodded her that they have more great animals to gaze elsewhere. She suddenly blurted out in high pitched voice pointing her finger at the monkeys and  tapping her father’s face, “look the monkey looks like Atcham(dad).” The guy was certainly miffed and embarrassed and apparently people around heard the child’s statement. He gently pinched her and asked her to be quite. She then blurted louder still, “why do you pinch me for that”.” I understand that since that day the poor fellow have not taken fancy with zoos.

She now has grown up into a woman and finished her masters in zoology. She does not rattle or pass trivial talk, but if she tells something, it will as meaningful and sharp that it is difficult to refute the statement.

C’s parents were living in a small hamlet in the Nilgiris. Aravind, my son was quite fond of the old man, her father. We were once out there with the old folks on a short week end ors o. The boy was about four years of age. We were all watching some programme on the television. I guess it was some sports channel and the boy was fascinated with some body building competition that was being telecast. The boy was asking questions to the old fella and he was trying to give the child an explanation or a satisfactory answer. Not quite convincing for the boy! We heard the grandfather tell him something about the muscular physique of the men and how they built it over. The little fella, caught the old man unawares when he asked him,” appuppa why are all their muscles inside their underwear?” The old man a benign and timid fellow was stuttering to answer that question.

21 comments:

Arun Meethale Chirakkal said...

Ha ha ha ha... Refreshing!. I know how embarrassing it can be for I've been at the receiving end many times :)

Kavita Saharia said...

Hilarious ! Heee , kids can be cruel at times with their innocence.During a conversation on a lunch party at my house one of our guest said that he always prefers to eat lighter no matter how tasty the meal is ."But today you ate so much" - blurted out my son.

Insignia said...

Hahaha innocence! can make the elders go bonkers!

KParthasarathi said...

Hahaha
Once on a visit to a friend's house my little daughter asked the lady for a plantain.I don't know why she asked as she used to be usually quiet.The lady of the house said'Darling,there is no plantain in the house" where upon the girl said "I saw a big bunch with hundreds of fruits hanging from the ceiling by a rope."
There was obvious discomfiture when the lady said "Oh oh ,I forgot"

adithyasaravana said...

ha ha.. kids can be a bombshell at times..

Meera Sundararajan said...

Yes.. it is really funny- the truth that comes out of the mouth of babes so to say..! My daughter once asked my sister if she was married to which my sister replied that she was " foot loose and fancy free". We understand she asked her teacher a week later in school if she was married or " foot loose and fancy free"...! I am sure every family has this history of "truth" among the various skeletons in their cupboards.. :-)

Happy Kitten said...

Is it only me who did not get the joke?? :)

Children can make us look at the truth more truthfully!

anilkurup59 said...

@ Arun Meethale Chirakkal,

I'm sure for the ones at the receiving end must have been a helpless matter.The shrapnel of innocence!

@ Kavita,

The little fellow could not have lied I'm sure.

@ Insignia,

Yes B,

@ KParthasarathi,
Besides the lighter and the embarrassing side of the story you mentioned, it also tells that venom and the art of deceit and lies are injected into children. That is when they lose the innocence. The girl was innocent and truthful.

@ Meera Sundarajan,

Yes you are on to the point. Funny at times and sometimes truthful too.


@ Happy Kitten,

Children do not have diplomacy . Which is smiling when you lie and tell lie as if it was truth.

adithyasaravana said...

innocence and truthfulness.. when we are kids..
don't know when hypocrisy creeps in..
Only the degree varies..
nevertheless, all those stories left a smile on my face..

anilkurup59 said...

@ adityasaravanan,
Yes you are right the mind of a child is pristine and not defiled until all the conditioning starts.

Shilpa Garg said...

OMG!! Hilarious incidents!!
Kids can be sooo very embarrassing! Blurting out anything and everything in front of anybody!! The receiver would want to die of embarrassment while the others simply laugh out loud! :)

Felicity Grace Terry said...

Hilarious stuff. Children, don't you just love 'em?

anilkurup59 said...

@ SG,

Yes indeed both the guys mentioned here must have felt awfully struck.



@ Petty Witter,

Children can have their way and when that young , what could the grown ups say when they go berserk?

Happy Kitten said...

Came back to tell you that it was the iodex joke that failed on me, if you thought I was a total idiot...but grandma google helped me :)

anilkurup59 said...

@ Happy Kitten,

Ha , no problem. Sometimes the matter dose not relate . It happens to all. Thanks for persevering .

NRIGirl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
NRIGirl said...

Not sure how I missed this post; it did not show up on my blogger dashboard.

The height joke brought a smile, as I remember how my friends had to explain it to me the first time I heard it and they had at that time called me "he heighest height".

:)

anilkurup59 said...

@ NRI,

Good that you remembered the fun from the past.

A New Beginning said...

fun sans diplomacy, this is what children are all about :)

anilkurup59 said...

@ A New beginning,

Diplomacy is conditioned . isn't it?

A way of saying the opposite of what is intended and with a smile that bewitches.

Locomente said...

Children! Loved this... Stifled a laughter on that remark by your niece...