From Love Bullets to Scribbled Walls: Why Mess is Magic

How often have you scolded your little one for the mess they have created?

Years ago, when my kiddo, an adult now, was still in KG, she came home with her scrapbook. The topic for the journal given in class was, “What would you tell God if you met him?”

She had ‘scribbled’ and ‘illustrated’ something that I could make no head or tail of. My first reaction? Scold her for the dirty work. Then I paused—and asked, “What were you trying to make?”

Apparently there were two figures, one was of God and the other of a terrorist. Both had guns in their hands. While the terrorist had bullets in his gun, God was shooting ‘love bullets’ at the terrorist.

I was left speechless for a few moments. She was just 5!!! This was in context to the Taj bomb blast back then. While we had never discussed the case with her, obviously assuming that she was small and needed to be protected from the vagaries of the world, it was all over the news, and the child had grasped it from there. Here I was complaining about the messy work, and there she was ‘reforming’ the terrorist through ‘love bullets.’

Since then, instead of rushing to judge children, I love to hear the thought behind the mess they make. They have a valid logic to the spoiled paint, messy hands, dirty clothes, designed walls, and much more. That’s not chaos—it’s curiosity in action.

This curiosity, this creativity, which is beyond adult comprehension and at times patience, is what builds confidence.

Let them splash, squish, and smear—the cleaning can wait, but wonder doesn’t. Ask them to explain what they are seeing, making, thinking, and weaving.

Just remember, ‘daag achche hain,’ and there is always a method to messiness!