There are some things in life that make you
nostalgic. Some things that take you back down the memory lane, to your
childhood. It can be some taste, some smell, some songs, some food item or just
the face of your child or a day like today, the Children’s Day.
I have fond memories of my childhood and the
images are still fresh in my mind. I can visualize everything, as if it was just
yesterday. I can see my old house, my school building, my classroom, my bench,
my teachers, my friends, my town, my playground and so on.
I lived in a very simple house in a modest suburb
of Bombay (back then it was not Mumbai. Well, technically it was in the Thane district).
I lived in a chawl. We had a common gallery and in the
evening everybody gathered for a chit chat. It was like a one big family.
People shared their happiness and consoled each other during difficult times. I
think that was the best thing about living in a chawl. Now the buildings have
become taller, houses bigger but heart smaller.
Rainy season was memorable. I remember sometimes
travelling to school in waist deep water. I had a red gum boot. It was amazing
to go to school on a rainy day and then have a holiday declared due to rains.
One thing I realize is that as a child,
knowingly or unknowingly, we find the silver lining. Its only when we grow up,
things start bothering us.
Sundays were fun. The day started by the tune
of Rangoli and Chayageet that was followed by Ramayan and then Mahabharat.
During summer vacations, there was a one hour slot called ‘fun time’, this had
serials like stone boy, He-man, Three Stooges, etc.
I remember watching giant robot. At that time
it was perhaps the best animated show. Surbhi and Bharat ek khoj were the
source of informative shows in absence of Discovery and National Geography.
Dekh bhai dekh and zaban sambhalke were the best comedy shows, even today it
would be the best. It was telecast back to back. Kille ka rahasya was a
thriller. Cartoons were Duck Tales, Tales spin, Jungle
Book and Tom and Jerry.
Evening time after school was with friends. We
played blind man’s bluff, dabba aispais (modified version of hide and seek),
dongar ka pani, lagori, kona kona were the games we played. (Sorry, I don’t
know the English version of these games; for that matter I don’t know whether they
even exist today). Another game was to make small balls out of mud and throw it
on the wall of the building next to our chawl and see who throws the maximum.
Life really seemed less complicated. Only
worry was completing your homework, being on time to school and exams. No
googles, no projects, teachers were the only source of information. No KFC, No
MacD, No Pizza Hut, No Dominos and no other fancy names existed back then. Vada
Pav, Pani Puri, Malai Gola, Chammach (crushed ice with sugar syrup) was
delicacies. Going for a movie was a festive occasion.
Today we have more options, more facilities. Life has become
comfortable but complicated. TV is flat screen with HD. Chawl became building and then building
became complex and so did life.
The problems were never visible when I was a
child. They were only acknowledged when I grew up.
As a kid, I always wanted to grow up. I envied
adults who had no homework to do, no exams to give; never ever realizing that
when I would grow up, I would want to be a child again.
Childhood is a most important phase of life.
It is instrumental in shaping a person’s character. The stories we hear, the
experiences we have, the lessons we learn; all helps to build our value system,
our beliefs, our attitude and thus our personality.
When I look at the kids of the current lot,
they don’t look like kids. They have nothing childlike in them. They look like
adult bonsai. I have not seen them playing traditional games or playing in the
mud or just soaking in the rain. They have their virtual world of video games
and internet. I wonder what the next generation kids would be like. I think if
you ask them, ‘who gives us milk”, they would reply ‘Hypercity’ or ‘Nestle’ or
‘Amul’.
I feel there is a child in each one of us. The
challenge is to keep it alive. It is always hidden there deep somewhere under
the mask that we put on. The pretense of being mature. The pretense of being
perfect. The pretense of being strong. We like to portrait ourselves like a
straight face mature individual. We live our lives with that seriousness,
sabotaging the child inside. When was the last time we laughed our hearts out
like a child or wept like a baby? The best thing about a child is that it
emotes. No feeling is suppressed. We grown-ups are deprived of this liberty. We
seldom emote. As a kid we may have hugged our parents every single day. Many a
times we would have kept our head on their lap and slept or put our head on
their shoulder and cried. But when we grow up, we cease doing that. I am no
exception to this.
Most of the time, the child within doesn’t
even come out when playing with our own kid. This is one thing we all should
give a thought to.
Every one of us has some childhood memories. I
leave it up to you to remember your own stories, to find and connect your own
dots because only you know where the dots lay on the canvas called life. Only
you know where you have left the hand of the child in you during your life’s
journey.
On this children’s day may you find the child
in you.
Cheers to life. Cheers to the child in us.
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