BENGALURU: G.I. Joe was a rage among Indian boys of the glorious ’90s. The cartoon series on cable TV was a thrill, while the iconic action figure line that flooded downtown toy shops was everybody’s envy. The US-origin concept of two warring sides, with the Joes (the good guys) trying to save the world from the sinister machinations of Cobra, led by Cobra Commander, pitted friends against one another in play.
Each boy would bring out his favourite character collectibles and fine toy battle hardware, and enter a make-believe warzone – mostly a dining table or the living room floor – and fight it out, playing his character and setting to perfection. No friendships for some hours, only hostilities, as each knew his role in the game – something which was taken quite seriously.
G.I. Joe, He-Man, and the Power Rangers evoked in me the same heightened excitement that most urban Indian kids have today for Marvel characters, which are on full display at the cinema and in stores. Superheroes are purely fictional, but in that particular boyish phase of life, their fight for good against evil tends to latch on, and their influence comes to the fore in adventures with peers and school friends.
Whether it’s playing a character according to the role it portrays or inspires through toys, or acting out a character by dressing to look the part after watching it on screen, children revel in these pastimes. I have a cousin, who as a child of seven or eight, would hang a large cloth over his back and jump from the cot onto the dressing table, claiming to be Superman. Today, all those fond memories bring a chuckle to our faces.
The innocence with which children seriously play these unreal roles in fabulous worlds they have created for themselves is something the older folk must learn from – finding joy in the little things, even if it’s a figment of one’s imagination. Role-playing is an integral aspect of growing up. While sociologists and psychologists lay considerable emphasis on this concept in a much wider sense, it is especially important when looking at children, who play several roles based on what they watch on TV or devices, the toys they play with, the books they read, or simply by emulating adults around them. This is a naturally occurring phenomenon, even observed in animals where the offspring of several species watch the parents’/adults’ behaviour and imitate it, eventually cementing their role in the natural scheme of things.
Toys played a big role in my growing-up years (no pun intended). As an only child, the precious playthings gave me company, while also attracting other boys to come over and share my fun. The enjoyment bit apart, come to think of it now, my toys helped me develop individuality and learning, and I took my playtime very seriously, having preserved several of what I played with intact until now. For instance, a beautifully-crafted Animal Kingdom set, gifted to me for my seventh birthday, elevated my love and curiosity for animals, and I played out their lives in the wild, such as predator-prey relationships, wherein I got the lion figurine to take on its zebra counterpart.
I built miniature dioramas to bring the serenity of the wilderness into the cozy confines of my playroom. For my limited understanding at that age, this role-play in a natural setting allowed me to let my imagination run wild. Kids explore playing the roles of doctors, policemen, chefs, and engineers, with toy sets designed to satisfy these perhaps ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ dreams. Many, later in life, relate how a chance present of a toy plane or an invaluable book, opened their minds to a desired destiny.
Ever seen a child sitting in the driver’s seat of a parked car, and not pretending to drive, by tugging at the wheel and making engine-like sounds from his mouth? As children, we see situations around and pick up those most-inspiring, or plain comfortable. We find security amongst the older loved ones at home, and want to be like them, and tend to copy them. Role-playing is playing its role here, and as we grow up, it is constantly contributing to the development of our personalities.
As adults, when we enter the so-called real world, we are assigned real roles, professional and personal. Here, we do not ape or copy but are trained to play a role in a system. Reward or reprimand is determined by performance. This is the professional part. On the personal front, as parents/adults, we become the subjects that set the roles that our children wish to play. We buy them toys, bring them cheer, get them to learn something, and build their delicate imagination. In all their sense of boundless creativity, the ultimate role that children play at their finest is their own – of being children – a hallmark for being good human beings later in life.
(The writer’s views are personal)