On Saturday, we had dinner at my uncle's house. It was a big family dinner. The occasion was his son's wedding anniversary and their daughter-in-law was in town though they stay in the US.
I, as usual, reached early. Well, their house is in between my office and home. So, instead of going home and coming back half way, I thought might as well go there straightaway. To kill time till the rest of the family strutted in, I took my iPad with me. I was checking my email on it when my cousin sisters' kids came there. Two cousin sisters. Four kids. All from out of town. In the age group of probably 6 to 10.
They asked me in the cutest possible tone, "Aa shoo chhe?" (What is this?) I told them it is called "iPad". I then did a quick demo of the Photos app. They were all floored. They all sat in a line next to me and one by one took the iPad in their hand and played with the Photos app. Zoom in, zoom out, pan, rotate. I also showed them some pics of some of them from a few years back. Squeals of laughter and delight!
By then their mothers had sensed that they were playing with a fancy device. They quickly warned them and me to be careful.
Next were a few simple games I have on my iPad. One by one they would take shots at the games and play for a few minutes each. "Next its my turn". "Then mine". "Then mine". They were clearly having a ball!
I then showed them the Piano and played a couple of popular tunes and then opened Penultimate. This was a huge hit. This is an app that allows you to write or draw with your finger. There are some fancy features like an eraser, adjusting the color and size of the pen etc. They were on a roll. One by one, they took the iPad and let their drawing skills loose. Mountains, the sun, birds, the ocean, fish.
After a while, the adults went berserk. They asked the kids to stop it at once. They asked me to put the iPad in. I didn't quite understand what the fuss was about. It was not as if they were fighting over it. They were drawing one by one in an extremely orderly manner, clearly fascinated by this new little gadget.
But the adults didn't care. It had to stop. They would 'spoil' something. This was an expensive device. Not to be fooled around with by a bunch of unruly kids!
The kids gave up. I put the iPad in.
After all, I couldn't stand up against the collective might of the maternal oligarchy of the Parekh kutumb!
I, as usual, reached early. Well, their house is in between my office and home. So, instead of going home and coming back half way, I thought might as well go there straightaway. To kill time till the rest of the family strutted in, I took my iPad with me. I was checking my email on it when my cousin sisters' kids came there. Two cousin sisters. Four kids. All from out of town. In the age group of probably 6 to 10.
They asked me in the cutest possible tone, "Aa shoo chhe?" (What is this?) I told them it is called "iPad". I then did a quick demo of the Photos app. They were all floored. They all sat in a line next to me and one by one took the iPad in their hand and played with the Photos app. Zoom in, zoom out, pan, rotate. I also showed them some pics of some of them from a few years back. Squeals of laughter and delight!
By then their mothers had sensed that they were playing with a fancy device. They quickly warned them and me to be careful.
Next were a few simple games I have on my iPad. One by one they would take shots at the games and play for a few minutes each. "Next its my turn". "Then mine". "Then mine". They were clearly having a ball!
I then showed them the Piano and played a couple of popular tunes and then opened Penultimate. This was a huge hit. This is an app that allows you to write or draw with your finger. There are some fancy features like an eraser, adjusting the color and size of the pen etc. They were on a roll. One by one, they took the iPad and let their drawing skills loose. Mountains, the sun, birds, the ocean, fish.
After a while, the adults went berserk. They asked the kids to stop it at once. They asked me to put the iPad in. I didn't quite understand what the fuss was about. It was not as if they were fighting over it. They were drawing one by one in an extremely orderly manner, clearly fascinated by this new little gadget.
But the adults didn't care. It had to stop. They would 'spoil' something. This was an expensive device. Not to be fooled around with by a bunch of unruly kids!
The kids gave up. I put the iPad in.
After all, I couldn't stand up against the collective might of the maternal oligarchy of the Parekh kutumb!
... http://www.kamaldshah.com/2011/05/is-it-wrong-for-kids-to-enjoy.html
