An idiom in Kannada conveys the message that the robustness of the tree is unmistakably hinted at the stage of its sapling itself, even as the seed germinates. The English language idiom Child is father of the man, originating from the poem My Heart Leaps Up by William Wordsworth (1770-1850), the most popular interpretation of which conveys the message that man is the product of habits and behaviour developed in childhood. Adults in the family are known to play a major role in the moulding of the toddlers through the years of their growth, first as youth and later as adults. The learning as well as behaviour on the part of the growing child are known to be marked by the phenomenon of the junior imitating the elders in the family by keenly watching them in word and deed. The neighbourhood and the school are also part of the child’s growing. Another factor behind that growing, not much talked about in public domain, is the exposure of the toddlers to toys that fascinates them like nothing else, thanks to the pressures and compulsions of life in our times, to varying degrees in urban and rural spaces.
Once a flourishing cottage industry, toys made with an exclusive quality of wood by artisans in the town of Channapatna is on the brink of extinction. According to legend, the local artisans were trained by their counterparts from the then Persia (now Iran) more than 200 years ago. No household in the then Princely State of Mysore failed to patronise this toys industry, with at least one toy in the family.
