I Loved Shin Chan When I Was A Kid But My Mother Didn't - Now I Know Why

"Shin Chan, Shin Chan Pyaara Pyaara Aur Hain Itna Cute."

As a kid, I enjoyed playing with Barbie's and also, liked watching Barbie films which had an overdose of the color pink. I had been a fan of Disney movies (and still am) such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel but they never left an impression on me but then in the midst of petite Barbie's and melodramatic plot lines in children movies, came 'Shin Chan' and I was sold from the word go. I had a certain routine where I would wake up and watch Shin Chan then have lunch and watch Shin Chan and spend the rest of the evening watching Shi...Okay, I will stop.

My mother didn't seem very bothered by it at first but it was after a few weeks of rigorous watching that my mother started to get irritated with the serial.

"You have become as naughty as him."
"Look at how he talks to his mother, so disrespectful."
"Stop watching this serial or else you will become like him."

At that time I thought my mom was just being my mom and hence, overprotective and annoying but now when I look back I realize that maybe she was right. I remember I had a teacher in the 3rd standard and I would draw portraits of her on the blackboard while she was still teaching the rest of the class and I had also started to use the same language as him but that didn't bother me one bit, Shin Chan had become my childhood hero. Other people saw their father or mother as their role models and I had a Japanese cartoon kid as my role model, which explains why I turned out like this.

Then, I stopped watching Shin Chan so frequently because there were other shows on T.V such as That's so Raven, Hannah Montana, and Wizards of Waverly Place (I can't be the only one who is getting nostalgic at this point). I had entirely forgotten about it until one fine day, I was in 6th standard and it was my second year in boarding school and I was going to the field for P.T in the morning, that's when I saw my House captain walking beside me. Just as a side note, in boarding schools seniors are scarier than ghosts and you don't want to mess with them.

"Hey, you're in 6th std right?"
"Yes."
"You know, you look like Shin Chan."
What. Just. Happened.

I had left Shin Chan but Shin Chan hadn't left me. Then, a rumor went around that I could do the Shin Chan dance (I still remember it). I was called into the 12th std dorm and was made to perform the dance in front of everybody (why is my life so weird?). I don't remember much of what I felt while performing it except I remember wanting to burst with embarrassment. I would be stopped by seniors at random places in the school and I had to perform the dance, Ouch.

It was only while researching for this article did I find out that Shin Chan's actual name in the serial was 'Shinnosuke Nohara' but my favorite character was not the young protagonist, it was his dog 'Shiro' who was a white fluffy pup that Shin Chan had found in a cardboard box. I still clearly remember laughing every time Shin Chan would get punched in the head by his mother and then comically large lumps would appear on the top of his head. But the serial wasn't all innocent, Shin Chan would often use vulgar language and behave badly with the elders and after a few years, it was banned. Though, it did manage to come back but with censorship. My childhood friend had changed forever.

In the serial, Shin Chan still continues to be portrayed as a kid but I imagine him to have grown up into a less annoying, more mature and hilarious version of himself who is currently studying at college and hoping to one day get a decent job, did I just describe myself? Anyway, bad or good, Shin Chan made my childhood years a lot funnier and I'd look to thank him for making me laugh.

Till we meet again, in a parallel universe.