BOYS AT THE AGE OF FOURTEEN
“In this world of human affairs there is no worse nuisance
that a boy at the age of fourteen.
“He is neither ornamental nor useful. It is impossible to shower affection on him
as on a little boy; and he is always getting in the way. If he talks with a childish lisp he is called
a baby, and if he answers in a grown-up way he is called impertinent. In fact any talk a t all from him is
resented.
“Then he is at the unattractive growing age. He grows out of his clothes with indecent
haste; his voice grows hoarse and breaks and quivers; his face grows suddenly
angular and unsightly.
“It is easy to excuse the shortcomings of early childhood,
but it is hard to tolerate even unavoidable lapses in a boy of fourteen. The
lad himself becomes painfully self-conscious. When he talks with elderly people
he is either unduly forward, or else so unduly shy that he appears ashamed of
his very existence.
“Yet it is at this very age when in heart of hearts a young
lad most craves for recognition and love; and he becomes he devoted slave of any one who shows him
consideration. But none dare openly love
him, for that would be regarded as undue indulgence, and therefore bad for the
boy.
“So, what with scolding and chiding, he becomes very much
like a stray dog that has lost his master.
“For a boy of fourteen his own home is the only
Paradise. To live in a strange house
with strange people is little short of torture, while the height of bliss is to
receive the kind look of women, and never be slighted by them. “
The extract given above is from ‘Home Coming’ a story by
Rabindranath Tagore. The hero of this
story is a fourteen-year old boy who has lost his father and is entrusted for
his further upbringing to his maternal uncle.
While the uncle was quite considerate to the boy, his wife
was not. As a result, the boy gets afflicted
with fever after some time and dies. Without the love of his parents, especially
the mother, he was emotionally starved. Away from his home, he was like a stray
dog. His physical, mental, emotional and social needs remained ungratified. Tagore’s dictum “For a boy of fourteen his own
home is the only paradise” proves true.
Away from his parental home, he was in hell and dies while he was in the
custody of his uncle.
“Homecoming” is a story about the behaviourial problems of adolescents
both boys and girls. What has been said
about boys in this extract equally applies to girls.
It is interesting to note that Tagore has mentioned not only
the problems of adolescents, but also suggested remedies which should be
adopted by all co0ncerned.
7th December 2019 G. R. KANWAL
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