Saturday, 6 March 2021

On Women's Day 2021 -- Men vs Women/People?












Right at the outset, let me apologise for imposing on those of you readers who have seen these videos before. But viewing them together, one after the other set off a chain of thought too irresistible to ignore. Or let me put it this way, the contrast was too sharp for us ladies to resist. You get what I am hinting at now…..Sorry again, given the age of the subjects of the videos, “it’s not nice” to point this out. But it did make us think about men and women.

 

Bloggers are constantly haunted by the question of what to write about next. And then Women’s Day came along. A readymade opportunity….not ones to be caught napping, we decided to take the cue from the unnamed young lady in the WhatsApp video above and on this International Women's Day, do something different. Namely, move away from the usual discussions on Women/Women’s Rights/how women are special/how they make the world go round and even how this is being commercialised.  And just focus on Women as people. 

 

Hardworking people, who have a mind of their own (which sometimes, we admit is difficult to figure out) and their own understanding of most things (which again, is sometimes rather puzzling). They do have dreams of their own; which they are happy (very sadly) to cast aside in a wink. They have special emotional empathies and sensitivities towards those who generally get laughed at or looked down upon. It would be "nice" if these things got some appreciation.

 

The world would be a different place if women got credited with the above, and treated likewise right from the time they were born. In keeping with this idea, it struck us that there were some nursery rhymes that could do with a little updating. Nursery rhymes are almost the first subconscious role modeling that is dinned into children by grown-ups. Guess what we discovered ... each one of us had one particular poem in mind that we'd always wanted to re-write.

 

And so, with a little bit of inspiration from Pinterest, we rewrote some of the most common rhymes that children are made to learn the world over; almost as soon as they learn to speak. ’nuff said. We’ll let the rhymes do the rest of the talking. Enjoy! Hope the rhymes make you think. And as always share, follow and subscribe to leftrightthodasacenter.blogspot.com and don’t forget to let us know what you thought. 


The original versions come first, followed by our updated versions. 


Jack and Jill Went up the Hill

Jack and Jill went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water

Jack fell down, and broke his crown

And Jill came tumbling after

Up Jack got

and home did trot,

As fast as he could caper.

To Old Dame Dob

who patched his nob

With vinegar

and brown paper.

Then Jill came in, and she did grin,

To see Jack’s paper plaster;

Her mother whipped her across her knee

For laughing at Jack’s disaster.

 

Parth and Jhilmil Went up the Hill

Parth and Jhilmil went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water

Parth fell down and the whole town

Told Jhilmil to go tumbling after.

Up Parth got

and home did trot,

As fast as he could caper.

To momma-that-knows-best,

who patched his crest

With vinegar

and brown paper.

When Jhilmil came in and she did grin,

To see Parth’s paper plaster;

Momma-that-knows-best said it was a sin

But Jhilmil still laughed at Jack’s disaster.

 

Twinkle, Twinkle

Twinkle, twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high

Like a diamond in the sky.

  

Twinkle, Twinkle

“Twinkle, Twinkle,” said the Star

How I wonder what you are?”

“I have often wondered too,

Can I ever shine like you?”

 

“Maybe I won’t be a star,

But I know I will go far;

And if I dream of becoming you

I will make those dreams come true!”

 

Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,

All the king’s horses

And all the kings men

Could not put Humpty Dumpty together again.


Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall,

The Doctor arrived in due course

She put his shell together, without force

Wiping his tears gently, she said

"Don't be so eggy-eyed HD,

Get back on the wall instead."


Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet

Eating her curds and whey

There came a big spider

And sat down beside her

Frightening Miss Muffet away.

 

Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet

Eating her curds and whey

There came a big spider

And sat down beside her

Smiling, Miss Muffet said “Hey!”

 

Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie

Georgie Porgie pudding and pie,

He kissed the girls and made them cry

But when the boys came out to play,

Georgie Porgie ran away.


                   Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie                                                        ]

Georgie Porgie pudding and pie

Boys bullied him and made him cry

But girls did not let him run away

They made Georgie stay and play

 

Girls and Boys Come out to Play

Girls and Boys come out to play,

The moon doth shine as bright as day;

Leave your supper, and leave your sleep,

And come with your playfellows into the street.

Come with a hoop, come with a call,

Come with a good will or not at all.

Up the ladder and down the wall,

A halfpenny roll will serve us all.

You find milk and I’ll find flour,

And we’ll have pudding in half an hour.


 Girls and Boys Come out to Play

 Girls and Boys come out to play

Tara’s fixing cars today,

Sush is conducting the pooja like a priest,

Vijay’s is rolling rotis for a treat

 

Shalu is ready to show magic tricks

Balu is making saucy dips

Rohit is wearing a ball gown green

He’s playing a beauty queen.

 

Amina is sailing a ship in the deep,

Gautam is singing the baby to sleep.

Geeta is Santa riding her sleigh

We shall play whatever we want to play.


What are Little Girls Made of?

What are little girls made of?

What are little girls made of?

Sugar and spice and all things nice.

That’s what little girls are made of.

 

What are little boys made of?

What are little boys made of?

Snaps and snails, and puppy dogs’ tails

That’s what little boys are made of.

 

What are Little Girls Made of?

What are little girls made of?

What are little girls made of?

Rains, sunshine, hearts and brains

That’s what little girls are made of.

 

What are little boys made of?

What are little boys made of?

Pretty much the same

That’s what little boys are made of.


 

No comments:

Post a Comment