Lolloping around with friends, cousins and sometimes strangers of same age as mine, childhood was bliss. I dearly miss those fun filled light days when there were only 3 activities – eating, sleeping and playing, only 2 known essentials - masti and dosti and only 1 intense interest – cartoons!
For hours together, I played with other jumping jacks at our second only home – the play ground. Soil was an open board on which we would write each other’s name, monochrome clay with which we built the castles, a scented element during the first rain and (at times) a delicious tidbit too, while the grass was a cushion, a bed to roll over, a racing track to run wildly on and a place loved by all. Hours we spent shouting and screaming, singing and dancing, chasing and running and pausing at intervals, gasping and declaring the chosen word – ‘tamplese’!
Days were simply days, there were no weekdays or any weekends. Time was one continuous stretch, a changing yet constant entity. The sunlight was never scorching nor was the night too dark for a game with group of friends. The call for the day was the call of my mother asking me to return home for a lovely hot supper. Till that time we know nothing of the world as we are too engrossed in our little world of lappa-chupi, pakda-pakdi and jhula.
Some evenings were spent cycling around the trees while others were spent chasing the colourful butterflies, catching the delicate helicopters and annoying the serene grasshoppers. There was not a single concern to disturb our play time. Although there was one big intermission (of about 5 mins) where we all stood randomly with a glass in hand waiting impatiently to drink water. Ahh! What a long relief from intense activity!!
Songs we sang were those of the ‘fire in the mountains....’ and ‘who stole the cookies...’. There was still longer list of others including ‘captain planet……he’s the hero’, ‘flint stones….the modern Stone Age family…’, ‘jungle jungle baat chali…’, ‘sabse nirala sabse anokha mera Disney hour….’. If you say – playing is the first life of a child, then you will unanimously agree to the fact that – cartoons is the second. It was as if there was only one channel on the television and our eyes and ears, intently watching and listening, would be shut to the rest of the world.
School was a routine where we were forgetful, reluctant, naughty and cranky. While teachers were respected and also feared when the homework was not done, the Principal was a person holding the highest position ever know to us.
We were aware of only our little world and hence everything around was our possession! And how proudly we declared them – my pencil, my water-bottle, my school, my house, my mom, my dad! It was towards mom that we ran for every little and silly thing. It was her lap which was the most comfortable couch and kiss on our cheeks which we well deserved. While mom was the most beautiful woman, dad was the most strongest. His arms and shoulders were of steel as we would witness him easily break open the lids of the tins and jars. All we expected from him was a pat on our back exclaiming good girl/boy.
We were so full of life yet unaware about the treasure of joy that we had. It was the ignorance of our ignorance. And that was the sole reason for our happiness as some one has rightly said – IGNORANCE IS BLISS. Indeed blissful we were in the days of our childhood. If only we could rewind the time and breathe life into the child in us….
IMG: Compulsive dreamer
For hours together, I played with other jumping jacks at our second only home – the play ground. Soil was an open board on which we would write each other’s name, monochrome clay with which we built the castles, a scented element during the first rain and (at times) a delicious tidbit too, while the grass was a cushion, a bed to roll over, a racing track to run wildly on and a place loved by all. Hours we spent shouting and screaming, singing and dancing, chasing and running and pausing at intervals, gasping and declaring the chosen word – ‘tamplese’!
IMG: turbophoto
Days were simply days, there were no weekdays or any weekends. Time was one continuous stretch, a changing yet constant entity. The sunlight was never scorching nor was the night too dark for a game with group of friends. The call for the day was the call of my mother asking me to return home for a lovely hot supper. Till that time we know nothing of the world as we are too engrossed in our little world of lappa-chupi, pakda-pakdi and jhula.
IMG: thermodern
Some evenings were spent cycling around the trees while others were spent chasing the colourful butterflies, catching the delicate helicopters and annoying the serene grasshoppers. There was not a single concern to disturb our play time. Although there was one big intermission (of about 5 mins) where we all stood randomly with a glass in hand waiting impatiently to drink water. Ahh! What a long relief from intense activity!!
Songs we sang were those of the ‘fire in the mountains....’ and ‘who stole the cookies...’. There was still longer list of others including ‘captain planet……he’s the hero’, ‘flint stones….the modern Stone Age family…’, ‘jungle jungle baat chali…’, ‘sabse nirala sabse anokha mera Disney hour….’. If you say – playing is the first life of a child, then you will unanimously agree to the fact that – cartoons is the second. It was as if there was only one channel on the television and our eyes and ears, intently watching and listening, would be shut to the rest of the world.
IMG: suite101
School was a routine where we were forgetful, reluctant, naughty and cranky. While teachers were respected and also feared when the homework was not done, the Principal was a person holding the highest position ever know to us.
IMG: Lafayette
We were aware of only our little world and hence everything around was our possession! And how proudly we declared them – my pencil, my water-bottle, my school, my house, my mom, my dad! It was towards mom that we ran for every little and silly thing. It was her lap which was the most comfortable couch and kiss on our cheeks which we well deserved. While mom was the most beautiful woman, dad was the most strongest. His arms and shoulders were of steel as we would witness him easily break open the lids of the tins and jars. All we expected from him was a pat on our back exclaiming good girl/boy.
We were so full of life yet unaware about the treasure of joy that we had. It was the ignorance of our ignorance. And that was the sole reason for our happiness as some one has rightly said – IGNORANCE IS BLISS. Indeed blissful we were in the days of our childhood. If only we could rewind the time and breathe life into the child in us….
IMG: inetgiant
(I want every child to enjoy his/her childhood the way I did, but unfortunately.....)
