Exclusive - TV host Ravi on Covid-19 lockdown: Let’s keep our kids away from mobiles especially TikTok

The ongoing 21-day lockdown due to Covid-19 spread has given many to spend time with their families. Anchor Ravi is also spending some quality time with his family especially his 4-year-old daughter Viya. However, he says spending time with kids is definitely fun but it has its own challenges too. Excerpts from ETimes TV’s exclusive chat with the ace TV host.

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A few days, in the beginning, are good. But of late we are getting to hear that a lockdown until June is also being considered. On the 101st day, people will simply jump onto the roads and we might turn into zombies then (laughs). Jokes apart, being locked up within those four walls is just horrible.

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Many people are comparing this to Bigg Boss. I feel that that BB house is better when compared to this 100-day lockdown. There you have at least 10-14 people to talk to and some engaging tasks but here after a point of time, you don’t know what to do.

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I appreciate people who are working out and taking up challenges. But what if the internet, water and electricity go down due to over-usage in this lockdown phase? I’m more scared of such a scenario.

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Our township of about two thousand apartments is completely under lockdown. We don’t have any positive cases around, touchwood. Only milk packets are allowed. We are cleansing them with an anticeptic and disposing off the gloves. My doc said newspaper doesn’t carry the virus. So, we are allowing it as well.

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I’m having the best time of my life now. Your parents playing with your kid is something we all dream to see one day. I’m getting to experience that every day now. I’m recording everything my daughter Viya does.

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She’s just 4 years old and her creative side leaves me surprised. She comes up with an innovative idea to play every day. Today, a campfire is going on in the balcony and she has shifted into the balcony with all her toys. And guess who are camping with her – my parents. She picked this campfire idea from web series she saw the other day.

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Of late, she’s like, ‘Dadda, I’ll sleep only if you tell me a story.’ So, I’m telling her a bedtime story every day. Tonight, I have to talk about sharing. Lion and bird are her favourite. So, I’m preparing a story on sharing with her favourite characters. Fortunately, Nitya has got an exemption from this. She will happily sit beside us and laugh each time I get into trouble with Viya’s doubts.

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Answering Viya’s questions! This is tougher than KBC (Kaun Banega Crorepati) actually. The other day, I’m talking about trees and oxygen and she comes up with questions like, ‘How do floods come?’ ‘Why does earth has life and no other planet?’

Coping up with her brain’s pace and giving her answers in the language she understands is the real challenge.

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Viya’s mom (Nitya) is very strict. She ensures the Viya doesn’t access mobile phones or play games on it. Viya only watches television from 4pm - 4.30pm every day; only the show ‘Peppa Pig’. Nitya has trained Viya not to watch any extreme content that her grandpa or grandma or I’m watching on TV. We encourage Viya to do more crafts like sketching, colouring etc.

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Now, we have too much exposure to media. The attention-seeking behaviour is quite common. It is quite natural for kids to get high when someone likes their video or complements them. As adults, even we enjoy that much. Viya gets excited to see people clicking selfies with us when we got out. On the flip side, I’m scared too. What if that attention-seeking thought process grows?

I wouldn’t let her do TikTok videos. In fact, Nitya and my parents control me from putting out some videos on my social media handles. Now, I’ve decided to stop. I don’t want her to slip into this.

Let’s say NO to TikTok. Instead let’s make our kids create, draw, play or music.

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