U V Kini: BEYBLADE

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I don't think any other toy has captured the attention and imagination of the children more than the Beyblade. For the uninformed, Beyblade is an adventure story of kids, which was telecast on Cartoon Network. The Beyblade is a top with serrated edges, which is spun with a contraption called a launcher. In the TV serial, magical creatures (bit beasts) would rise from them during a Beyblade battle.

Children were crazy after Beyblade. Almost everybody was happy with the advent of the Beyblade. The children, the advertisers, the toy manufacturers, the shopkeepers, the TV channels etc. EXCEPT THE PARENTS. The prices for each set when they first come to the market were obscene. They would actually make you scream. You had no option other than to buy it because you kid was clamoring for it.

The Chinese versions were the first to come into the market. There were the plastic ones and also the all - metal ones. The minimum price for each was 250 bucks. Can you imagine 250 bucks for a @&#$%^ top? But they were actually the faltoo ones! The good ones cost about 400 - 500 bucks. Sorry, but I have to say it again. Can you imagine, 500 bucks for a @&#$% top? I must have spent close to 2250 bucks on these @&#$%^ tops, even with buying most of them in Bombay, where they were available for less than half the price in Goa. It is my honest opinion 2250 bucks is a lot of money for a @&#$%^ top. But then, I love my son. Anything to keep him happy and out of my hair.

Note: @&#$%^ = Damned. (Just thought I'd put this note in case you start thinking of some other four letter word. Damn is a four letter word. Four is a four letter word. Did you know that FOUR is the only number which has as many alphabets in its spelling as its number. Trust me; don't bother counting letters of other numbers.)

Children loved to play Bayblade battles with each other. At first they used to clash them against each other to see who the winner was. The one left spinning last was the winner. Some faltoo ones used to breakup with the first clash. After getting pastings at home for breaking them (of course, parents would get wild - Rs.300 or so gone for a spin!) they adapted their game to see whose Beyblade spun the longest. No more clashes.

With newer and newer versions coming into the market, my son was always demanding for more. Once I bought an all-metal beyblade for him. It was a solid metal piece, which I got for just Rs.100/ - at Crawford Market, Mumbai. I was surprised to get it so cheaply. When my son showed his friends in our apartment complex, he was the star for some days since his heavy beyblade would just brush aside other lighter plastic versions. The other children came to me and asked "Uncle, How much did you pay for this?" Hoping to impress them I said "300". I guess the "three hundred" did not impress them because they said "only three hundred? In Goa it must cost 600" I said "Son, do you have any idea how many hours your dad has to work to earn 300 rupees?" But if I had told the truth, I wonder what their reaction would have been? My son stopped playing with it after a while, because being heavy, it did not spin for long.

Now, the Chinese Beyblades (in the same packs) are available for less than 30 bucks on the roadside. The Faltoo ones are about Rs.10. But kids have lost interest in them now. Many shops have stopped selling them altogether. Like the saying goes "making hay when the sun shines"; the shopkeepers were "making us pay when the top spins". Before the Beyblade there was Pokemon. But I think the money involved in this toy was nothing compared to Beyblade. Now Power Rangers toys have taken the place of Beyblade in the toy shops. Prices range from Rs.300 to about Rs.1000. But then the kids are not crazy after them like they used to be about Beyblade.

U. V. KINI, a Qualified Company Secretary is currently residing at Margao, Goa, with his wife, son and daughter. He has printed and published two books. "Sanathana Dharma - An introduction to Hinduism" (English) and A compilation of Kannada, Marathi, Hindi and Konkani Bhajans printed in both Kannada and Devanagari scripts.

He has currently commenced work on a third book.

Mr Kini, a member of the Executive committe of GSB Samaj, Goa, was born and brought up in Mangalore and has done his schooling at St. Alosius, Mangalore.