On the other hand, there are concerned parents who feel that their children are being exposed to too much too soon. Many girls’ schools have even banned the use of make-up and impose severe penalties on students who wear even bracelets and earrings.

"We are responsible for the shaping of young, impressionable minds," explains Khurshed Wadia, the headmistress of a reputed public school in Mumbai. "What other schools do with their students is their business. But I will not allow anybody in my school to break the dress code."

Caught in this conflict of views are students themselves, many of whom are compelled into leading ‘double lives’. Left to themselves, they are out to ape the hot, young and pretty celebs they are exposed to in the media. But at school, they are forced into a complete personality change, bound by rules and decorum.

Then there are aspects of guilt complex and an identity crisis setting in that child psychologists are trying hard to grapple with. "You cannot bring up a child in a cocoon, cut off from the rest of the world, "says Sachin Raikar, a specialist in career guidance. "It is for parents to draw a line between what’s right and what’s not for their children, regardless of external influences."

Raikar cites the example of his seven-year-old daughter, who wanted the red hot outfit Kareena Kapoor wore in the You are my Soniya number in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. He and his wife settled on the pants, but gave the skimpy top a miss.

A more complicated issue arises when children feel deprived when they are either prevented or unable to afford what their friends can indulge in. The feeling of being ‘left out’ and made to appear as an outcast can leave deep psychological scars, which could last beyond adulthood.

For instance, Anil Adjani could not understand why his 10-year-old son had suddenly become a recluse, refusing to go out and play and worse, start failing in his class tests. "But when he began getting these bouts of depression and mood swings, we really got alarmed," narrates the father, a chartered accountant.

The boy was put through a shrink and it was then that Adjani Sr realised that the cause for his son’s misery was he himself. He had refused permission to the kid to colour his hair red just like what a boy in his school bus had. After prolonged sessions of counselling, the child is now back to his cheerful self.

But then, buckling down under pressure can have an equally disastrous effect. For children are smart. As eight-year-old Ritesh says: "If I want something and they say ‘no’, I keep asking and asking. Then I stop talking. Then I stop eating..."

In the end, he obviously gets what he wants, going by the number of WWF T-shirts, spiked football shoes and goalkeeper’s gear he has accumulated. He intends to cut his hair like Ronaldo and get a tattoo done on his non-existent biceps. But for now, he wants a cell phone — the one with a camera! MF