Arjun talks about the death of hundreds of people as if he is relating a story from his superhero comic book. Nikhil graphically describes the bullet entry and exit wounds as if it’s a playstation game. Rahul is scared by it all. But Khalil is brave. He wants to be a police officer. Ishant is a step ahead. He wants to join the Marine Commando Force.

Arjun, Nikhil, Rahul, Khalil and Ishant are your boys next door. At the ages of eight or nine, they are obviously unable to comprehend the magnitude of the tragedy that befell Mumbai after it was assaulted by terrorists over three days and shocked the world.

But the non-stop television coverage of the carnage has had its impact on them. A week after the attacks, it is all the cherubic boys with shy smiles and hesitant answers can talk about. Teachers and child experts say there are scores of similar stories, causing them to wonder if their parents have failed to act as filters.

“They came all the way from Karachi through the sea. Then they went to the Taj and then to other places,” says Arjun, who studies in class four at a prominent South Mumbai school. “They were going to kill 5,000 people. 101 people were killed at the Taj,” he says.

Asked how they felt watching the images, some boys struggled to express themselves. “I was scared and didn’t go down to play. I felt scared to come to school. I felt the terrorists would come right into my house,” says Rahul, adding that when school reopened, playground conversations centred around what the city had been through.

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