I have finally managed to get down to write a post, after almost a year. The reason is an extraordinary event that took place in my life on 19th July 2021. I got a permanent promotion in status--i became a parent. Was blessed with a bundle of joy called Aavya.
Have often thought of writing a post on parenthood and how movies gave me gyaan in this regard. However, almost all the movies dealt with parenthood from a "funny parents" point of view, which I am sure will arise in the future, once the minion grows to be a potent force (there have been plenty of trailers to the potential movie thats coming in the near future).
In the present post, I am going to deal with a world that I did not know exist pre-July 2021. No, I am not talking about responsibilities and all other emotional stuff that is expected with the coming of the first child, and that too, a little princess.
I am speaking about the world of "Nannies".
Let me also give some context to some of the stuff that may come up in this post-- I have just finished reading up on "forced labour" and am at the peak of "sympathy wave" for work-force.
With this background, I would like to start by saying that the world of "Nannies" brings with it "forced employer-hood. You are compelled to employ a Nanny for the well being of both the child and the parents. However, the extraordinary and overwhelming experience with the spate of nannies over the last 9 months have been nothing short of a movie in itself.
This experience makes me realise why Mary Poppins was such a popular movie, not only for the children, but also amongst parents. She is the perfect Nanny who "magically" solved all the problems of the Banks family.
Closer to home, the popular "Nanny" themed movies that I remember watching would be "Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke" where Juhi Chawla comes into the life of Aamir Khan to help him handle his sister's orphaned children. Though Juhi Chawla is not really a "nanny", she does pretend to be one.
In recent times, Rani Mukherjee did her own version of Mary Poppins in the boring "Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic".
Sadly, none of these movies gave me any "gyaan" to handle this life aspect. The real life "Nanny" is neither problem solver nor a delight who does "magic". Though what is really expected from a "Nanny" is nothing short of "magic".
So in a way Mary Poppins and all its wannabe versions, are not so much children fantasy, but much rather new born parent's fantasy movies.
