Tripathiji says:
"In case we cribbed and tried to create a nuisance, we were firmly told to stop. In rare cases when we did not relent; one tight slap was all that was needed to put us back firmly in place."Read the full post here.
I am tempted to agree. I have between 20 and 30 cousin brothers and sisters (I have lost count!) and I was the eldest, so as the elder brother, I spent most of my childhood slapping them around. Being a pest? Whack! Fighting with your sister? Thwack! I see arrogance in your eyes. Slap! Very entertaining I must say. This I used to do when I was away from my father and mother who spent their most of their awake hours whacking or threatening to whack me and my siblings. Sometimes, faced with an impertinent jackass of a kid, you just know that the appropriate response is to get give him a solid one on his butt. Oh the pleasure of that sound!
Ful2 faltu had no such luck; he spent most of his time trying to escape from such atrocities perpetrated on him by his dad.
"Dad would be with stick, broom or belt depending upon what he could lay his hands on and we would be running around trying to escape. Mom did not intervene at the serious time. It was some neighbors who would intervene."Read the full post here
Because I was thrashed and have thrashed, I feel both pleasure and horror when I read it. Probably elder brothers who got thrashed and could thrash too go schizo. I can feel for ful2 Faltu, and I can feel a wild grin coming over my face when I think about it from the dad's POV.
In fact, thrashings were not exactly from dad or mom alone. They could come from anywhere. I was often the first rank holder in all class tests; and even I got caned once in a while. So for those of you who think that thrashings are only for bad students, you are wrong. All kids used to get thrashed or caned.
One of my favourite stories, which I recite proudly in every conversation about thrashings (we adults have a lot of them, don't we?) is about when the nun who was teaching us in my 3rd or 4th standard class thought I was creating a disturbance. Fact was, there was a nut sitting behind me who ws poking me, and after two or three pokings, I turned around to ask him what his problem was -- and that was the only thing the stupid nun saw. She told me to hold out my hand and brought out her evil cane. I tried to explain, but nuns listen only to Jesus. I was all indignation and self righteousness personified, red in the face and fuming, and she just wanted to cane me on my palm and continue with the class. Well, the cane came down once, and I caught it and broke it into 3-4 pieces and walked out of the class. No thinking, just action and damn the consequences!
I still get all goosepimply when I remember that.
Anyway - we were talking about thrashings, right? I think even wives deserve thrashing once in a while - problem is, wives are not kids, and they are big and grown up, and thrashing them is wife-beating. No matter if they are being impertinent too - you can only legally and morally beat little kids who can't do anything to prevent it. That's the law. Big girls who can actually resist, and sometimes give you one back, are not to be beaten. Looking at it that way, its like kicking a dog. It can only moan and run away. On the other hand, there are laws which at least imply that you can't kick tigers. This is unfair to someone I am sure, but I am getting confused with all these people and animals I have brought into this post; so please figure out who it is all unfair to by yourself.
So instead of beating my wife, I just stop eating. I say, I won't eat and look all sad and forlorn, and then I feel its like some kind of mental beating - which is all I can do. Much more complicated this way though - I long for the days when a husband could just slap his wife because there is no toothpaste or because he doesn't like his boss or something. Modern times make it much more complicated.
Back to beating kids - let me warn all parents though. Those little animals that look like humans can be very nasty. Don't be surprised if they spit in your food or tear up your mortgage papers or drump your credit card in the sewer. They don't like being beaten, and they will definitely have their revenge one way or the other.