Toying with toddlers

An idiom in Kannada conveys the message that the robustness of the tree is unmistakably hinted at the stage of its sapling itself, even as the seed germinates. The English language idiom Child is father of the man, originating from the poem My Heart Leaps Up by William Wordsworth (1770-1850), the most popular interpretation of which conveys the message that man is the product of habits and behaviour developed in childhood. Adults in the family are known to play a major role in the moulding of the toddlers through the years of their growth, first as youth and later as adults. The learning as well as behaviour on the part of the growing child are known to be marked by the phenomenon of the junior imitating the elders in the family by keenly watching them in word and deed. The neighbourhood and the school are also part of the child’s growing. Another factor behind that growing, not much talked about in public domain, is the exposure of the toddlers to toys that fascinates them like nothing else, thanks to the pressures and compulsions of life in our times, to varying degrees in urban and rural spaces.

Once a flourishing cottage industry, toys made with an exclusive quality of wood by artisans in the town of Channapatna is on the brink of extinction. According to legend, the local artisans were trained by their counterparts from the then Persia (now Iran) more than 200 years ago. No household in the then Princely State of Mysore failed to patronise this toys industry, with at least one toy in the family.

Both elegance and durability marked the Channapatna toys known to be close to the hearts of the toddlers through many generations. Their features of safety, much debated with respect to modern toys, was never in doubt, apart from their cost within the reach of the entire cross section of the then society. Thanks to the emergence of toys that move and even possess voice, resembling robots, Channapatna toy industry has faded into oblivion, except for a handful of artisans still clinging to their calling, hardly noticed by travellers on the Mysuru-Bengaluru route’s stretch passing through the once-famed toy-town. Whatever is in the households, the toys of Channapatna made several decades ago still enjoy their antique value, despite not attracting the attention of both toddlers and their parents.

At the end of the day, with the good old Channapatna toys gone with the wind and modern-day toys being expensive, toddlers in the rustic households are the losers in the bargain. The only hope for revival of the classic toy industry of Channapatna depends on the initiative by entrepreneurs who appreciate the value of toying with toddlers.