One of the unavoidable tasks that need to be attended to, each time I visit Kerala is doing
the rounds of some close relative's homes. If you don't do it, they get offended. So, I usually make it a point to keep apart some time for a brief visit at the homes of some close relatives (especially my Godparents) almost every time I visit Kerala.
Yesterday I was at my godparent's home in the evening for a quick visit. We talk shop -
mostly about the rains, the recently receded flood waters, which had entered their home
(an annual occurence) forcing them to move to the rooms on the first floor, etc etc.
I can hear the TV in the adjoining room and walk in to see my cousin's son watching an
English movie on Star Movies. The movie has Vin Diesel starring in it and the kid (he
would be like 9 years old) is watching it quite intently. Am not sure whether he really understands the American English or just watching it for any stunt/fight scenes.
Anyway, I make some small talk with him about his studies and then check with him if
he has seen the famous Vin Diesel movie (The Fast and the Furious) - I am guessing he
would like car racing movies like most young boys. He has not even heard of it. Hmmm.
Anyway, I sit with him for some time and try to make sense of the movie playing on TV.
A good looking young girl/lady joins the action and Vin Diesel is talking to her. From the
body language, I know that what is going to follow soon is a kiss. I am now thinking, should
I get up and move on before the kiss happens, to avoid both of us the embarassment ?
By western standards, a kiss is nothing big, especially in a movie. But, this is India and a
kiss, even if on-screen is not something that two generations would be comfortable
watching together. The sequence of events that followed were quite surprising.
Just as I am thinking of whether to get up and move to the living room, he also somehow
understands that a kiss is about to follow and immediately switches to the Cartoon Network
(CN) channel. He stays a few seconds at the CN channel and then switches back to the movie.
But the kiss had not yet happened and actually was going to happen only now. Another
touch of the remote buttons and we are back at CN channel, where he again lingers for a
few seconds before returning back to the movie. By this time, the kiss has been done and finished with.
I am zapped, to say the least. How did he know that a kiss is about to follow ? Nothing in the preceding dialogues indicated it. And even if the dialogues indicated it, he would anyway not
be able to make sense of the English dialogue, leave alone the American English, given his limited exposure to English.
What I presume is that from constant watching of English movies, he was able to know by
the body language that intimacy is expected. Quite smart. Anyway, it saved me the embarassment of having to endure an intimate moment on TV with my nephew.
Kids sure are a lot smarter today than we were at that age. Hmm.
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