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LIKE GTA, LIKE SON!
mood: 
nervous
nervousHe rescues his girlfriend Sweets from amidst a bevy of armed thugs after a marathon shooting spree and emerges unscathed. He meticulously plans and with utmost precision plants a bomb unnoticed under the car of the newly appointed President and walks off with a mindblowing sum of money. He closes a 2-million dollar drug deal and comes home to a swanky mansion and his own private jet. Finally, he shoots his boss dead for daring to scheme against him behind his back....
Plot of an action-adventure packed Hollywood drama starring Van Damme?
Wrong guess.
The hero is a soon-to-be 10 year old. My son.
And he does a hell of a lot more without as much as having to lift his arm, thanks to one of the most sought after Cyber Games of today - GTA aka Grand Theft Auto.
After its storming success with Liberty City and Vice City, GTA is now out with an even more adrenalin-packed drama titled San Andreas. But unfortunately, for my son, its curtains on GTA. At least for now.
All it took was a casual remark by him on one of our Sunday-eve rides. We were driving through a crowded locale where people merrily jaywalked and had a hard time differentiating sidewalk from the road and my hubby was having to keep his hand on the honk more than on the steering wheel. And my sonny says :
" These people need to be shot." ( !!!!!! )
Of course I was shocked more than I was surprised !! But yes, I guessed where that came from.
I asked him, "Is that what you do in GTA?!" and bang comes the reply, "Well, yeah."
And it didn't take me any longer to decide that GTA had to go. Down under.
Of course my sonny fussed, but I gently explained how living the life of a ruthless criminal (which is what GTA is all about) has tarnished his attitude towards people in general and warned him that in the long run it could actually end up making him a 'very bad person' with zero sensitivity. For a miracle, he could see sense in what I was talking and came around to abiding with my decision. And I whispered a prayer under my breath.
So, for his birthday I told Rahul that he had two genre of game CDs/cartridges to choose from: Sports/Kiddo games ( the likes of Mario, Pokemon, etc). With respect to sports, I was quick to add a Conditions Apply. No WWF/WWE or the likes.
Rahul decided he'd go in for FIFA 2007. And I was all smiles. At least a game was not going to have anything to do with shaping the personality of my son. Then he adds, "You know mom, I've played FIFA before. And its funny, but I kept getting shown the Red Card."