I have joined a toy library for Nisarga. They have toys and books and stuff. Its started by a friend and I can get flashcards, and books, all kinds of toys and stuff for him, without investing in space in my home. Its quite great actually, and surprisingly affordable. She operates it only two days a week, but its enough. No point changing toys everyday.

Oh, if you live near Borivali West, you may want to check it out. I hesitate to give out her contact information without permission, but if you comment here, I can email you her information.

Anyway, coming to the original reason for the post. Every time I go to the toy library, I’m fascinated with the kinds of toys on offer. Big, child friendly books, colourful toys of incredible variety, developmental toys suitable to encourage children to explore emerging abilities….. I felt like a kid in a chocolate shop. All this stuff was unheard of when I grew up.

Perhaps I’m a little intimidated by the variety, perhaps I’m a little overwhelmed, like a buffet of so many varieties of food, all delicious, but only so much place on my place, and so much appetite. I found myself missing the simplicity of options of my childhood. There were toys for physical dexterity. There were toys that built knowledge, there were toys that encouraged creativity…… but not a single toy that encouraged curiosity. Our world is getting increasingly obsessed with skill building, and moving away from questions that are unanswered. I found myself wishing for toys that not just encourage ability, but toys that encourage curiosity.

While it is important to answer questions that a child asks and create a diversity of knowledge, I believe that it if you really want your child to grow “more” than you, or to the best of his abilities, he needs to develop a curiosity for what lies beyond his horizons. It may be about how gymnasts train, or what extreme cold feels like, or what infinity is like for simple stuff, or even what would be the physics of black holes. He needs to be exposed to more questions he doesn’t know the answer to, can’t easily get answers to, I don’t know the answers to, and perhaps even those no one, not even experts can explain…..

Didn’t find anything designed for this, though I guess everything can be used for that, but then I don’t need toys for it, right? I realized that the world is changing. The nature of toys reflects that. I realized that like any other aspect of life, if I want change, I will have to create it.

Maybe its time for a new business.