Thomas Carlyle wr-ote a book of essays called Heroes and Hero Worship whe-re his pivotal argument was that heroes are forever and are a natural evolution of history.

Depending on the need of the hour the hero takes on a different persona — a poet, a pro-phet, a priest, a statesman, a man of letters and so on. Had Carlyle been alive today he would have included child as the universal hero. A talented child can put the achievements of an adult stalwart to shame — at least that’s what we are all witnessing every day. We find these kids on television screens a dime a dozen.
While myths and myth-ology is full of heroes who are children, the world of ads is an avid chronicler of the wonders of everyday child heroes. Horlicks, Bou-rnvita, Colgate, Lifebuoy, Kellogg’s Cornflakes are only churning out geniuses. The shy boy becomes smart; a dark girl becomes a rock star; a loser on the football field becomes a winner and so on.
As the mother of championships — the Olympics are coming closer, brands are portraying the untiring spirit of the child relentlessly practicing on the basketball court under the watchful eyes of the mother. Worldwide Proctor and Gamble is also celebrating the inspiring spirit of the mother behind every hero and getting accolades from consumers the world over. This is the oft-repeated story and most importantly one side of the story. Are parents coping with their offspring’s strides?
Children have already started solving the problems their dads and moms used to do. While dads are happy with their chalta hai two wheelers, kids are fuming at their parents’ inertia to change and upgrade — look at the new Hero bike ad. Left to himself, as the Volkswagen TVC shows, the child engages in conversation with the car showroom owner. Places a booking for a Beetle as his own eighteenth birthday present and selects another high-end model which he would drive after he is the CEO. Dreams for children are not shots in slow motion as the Axis Bank ad shows — they are fast cuts and quick shots. Gadgets have told them that life can be accelerated and that the possibilities are endless.
A gadget is not a one job machine. My friend’s daughter was so annoyed with her mother that she downloaded 40 microwave-friendly recipes to prove to her mother that the micro has multi usages and cooking can be different. In comes Australian Master Chef Junior — mothers beware! if your little son or daughter gets into the selection list, your ownership of the kitchen is gone. The dosa mix ad has a very circumspect mother presenting her ‘authentic’ dosa for her son’s approval. Rarely do sons come rushing home to eat maa ke haat ka khana.
No wonder New Age shopping has all the children behaving like adults! In fact it is difficult even for brands to find an evolved customer. All they do is to show the bonsai consumer for the Flipkart ads because that’s how consumers of tomorrow will behave and grown up future consumers cannot be manufactured overnight.
All online shopping ads are demanding drastic behaviour changes. Dad has to get over his emotional attachment to his desktop, grandfather over his old Austin and Guruji ka bataya hua number, elder brother has to get over his infatuation for his old bike. The dictat comes from a babe-in-arms: chachu bech de, get rid of old attachments and make space for something new in your house and in your mind.
Amidst all these changes what are the guardians doing? A section of them are emulating the fashion of their teenage sons and daughters. Those who have the money are frequenting beauty parlours and bribing time with botox.
The serious-minded gua-rdians are even more dangerous. They are emotionally blackmailing their exam-oppressed kids to fulfill their parent’s dreams. One pet job of theirs is to move around with a dabba full of laddos to do the mou meetha for their children’s success. An education /coaching site where Ein-steins are manufactured is even releasing a commercial which shows how the proverbial laddo is snat-ched out of the mouth of one successful candidate and put into that of another as the final score races down to the last decimal of 100 marks.
How do you think these 100 out of 100 mark achievers will take to their guardians who have never managed to get even a decent pass mark in their lives? Dad has been a loser for quite some time. The kids have initially made fun of him, tried to change him and finally given up on him. Umpteen number of ads have showcased his stupidity. Now moms are not being spared as well. Mother is being ridiculed as having no common sense in a washing powder for washing machine ad because she is using a washing powder not meant for machines and is still expecting a perfect wash. Cadbury’s has already ridiculed her culinary expertise.
The traditional guard-ians have fallen — the time for the New Age youngster is upon us!