Nursery Rhymes

Lot of miles , they say , has flown past by my car’s wheels. What used to be an immensely enjoyable drive to Calicut has been reduced to a slightly bitter experience due to the condition of roads in Kerala.

But that is not the point I am trying to make. I was listening to my wife sing some nursery rhymes with my daughter and I am startled how violent some of these are !!

Take Goosey Goosey Gander

Goosey goosey gander,
Whither shall I wander?
Upstairs and downstairs
And in my lady's chamber.
There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers,
So I took him by his left leg
And threw him down the stairs

And of course there is poor old Humpty Dumpty who seems to have met a rather violent end

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again

Now there can’t be a problem with Jack and Jill, can there ? Multiple fractures at the bare minimum, the following lines would suggest ..

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.

What about the three little blind mice ? Listen to this ghastly tail chopping tale ….

Three blind mice. Three blind mice.
See how they run. See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a sight in your life,
As three blind mice

Hmmmmm, looks like we should be more worried about the nursery rhymes than about violence on TV :-)) Now I know why I always had a soft spot for Twinkle Twinkle little star :-)