The plane went and crashed into the building and I felt very scared when I saw that

Delhi slum child

But since the attacks on New York and Washington, a survey has found a marked shift in their TV viewing habits.

Many are now glued to the live 24-hour Hindi news channels watching the war against terrorism.

And as reality outpaces fiction, their new levels of awareness are causing considerable fear.

Clear memory

In a crime-ridden, drug-infested slum in the east of Delhi, it is not the violence on the doorstep that is engrossing the children.

Asked if he knows who Osama Bin Laden is, eight-year-old Himangshu says he has heard the name but he does not know him personally.

Children in the slums have been glued to the TV since 11 September

But he does remember very clearly what happened on 11 September.

"The plane went and crashed into the building and I felt very scared when I saw that," he said.

"I have seen films where buildings have fallen down and I hear the name of Delhi in the news so that's why I get frightened."

The children compare the news they see on different channels and discuss it.

A non-governmental organisation called Centre for Advocacy and Research was monitoring children's reactions to TV dramas and serials before the attacks.

'Hooked'

Field worker Sude Nutial believes the children are hooked on news in a way that she has never seen before.

"Before that they have only seen all these themes in films. But now, in real life, they have seen this so they are somehow associating this with their country also," she said.

"They are thinking it could happen here also."

Ovashi is 14 years old. She says that before the attacks on the US she had no interest in news and used to prefer cartoons and Hindi films.

Another girl says she is ready to fight Osama Bin Laden, who she thinks should be killed.

Yet another says he would like to fight but he's too small. If he shot a rifle the recoil would knock him over, he says, displaying a wisdom beyond his years.

Play suspended

Anna Radamukoshe of the research centre says many children have even stopped playing, preferring to stay indoors discussing the latest developments.

The children compare and discuss what they see on different channels

"It's close to home and there have been terrorists in the country," she says.

"They have seen deaths in Kashmir, even blasts in Delhi. So for them it is something which is very close to them."

Indian children who cannot recognise their own foreign minister now know what the Taleban's ambassador to Pakistan looks like.

Some of the pictures like the sight of desperate people throwing themselves from the upper floors of the World Trade Center have frightened them.

But mostly there is the fear that nobody is safe now, no matter where they live.