We recall simple childhoods with fondness, riddled with mischief, antics. Had my fair share of child-like wonder, vivacious fun. Nostalgia triggers exciting memories. An ‘a-ha’, a cringe, a laugh! Everything’s different as a kid, colours are brighter! Disillusioned, disenchanted? NO, self-love led the way to celebrate, embrace the present moment.
Exciting, inventive outdoor games. Opening batsman in a boys cricket team, valued. Crazy about climbing trees. Stuck dangerously high, needing rescues. Often fearless with blood-stained shirts, torn uniforms – bruises, cuts, scratches! Relied on white chalks to hide shoe dirt! Adventurous, tenacious in unfamiliar places. Mom uneasy buying new uniforms, shoes almost each week!
No internet, mobiles, video games. Inappropriate TV programs, inappropriate timings. Sharing giggles watching videos with friends. Operating confusing knobs on TV sets (no remotes). Frustrating resets of TV antennas for better signals. Truck loads of audio, video cassettes! TV was a shared neighbourhood asset, community viewing of popular shows, just like landline phones. Slowly life turned from black and white to colour. Going to movie theatres was reason enough to dress up!
Alert for parent footsteps. Pretending to be asleep! Feigning stomach aches, naughty twinkles in eyes hoping to avoid school, chores, tests. Very honest self-expressions! Collecting feathers, flowers, preserving in books. Board games – ludo, chess, carrom (thrill of chasing the red queen), card games with friends was great fun. Loved kite flying, candy-floss, still close to heart. Fully engaged in school projects, creative hobbies.
Incredible family holidays, summer camps, adventures in nature. Joyfully jumping into cold lakes, waterfalls, dirty mud puddles. Super sweaty afternoons at sporting activities in school trips, spontaneous moments of joy. Free-form dancing in monsoon rains, paper-boat competitions.
What a move from metallic geometry boxes to magnetic pencil boxes, boring erasers to scented cartoon rubbers. Fountain pens tediously re-filled with royal blue ink, mostly splattered on crisp white shirts, fingers. Practical ballpoint pens were magical, though it spoilt hand-writing. Loved letters.
Time not at malls but circulating libraries. Library cards as precious as gold. Comics a big thing! Vividly imagined adventures of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five, Secret Seven to Nancy Drew’s, Hardy Boys, Agatha Christie’s. Carefully collected stamps, coins, souvenirs, post cards from travel. Train journeys with packed home food, leaky water coolers. Ran at platforms for water re-fills during train stops, superstar!
Now, sensory overloads push childhood away. Yet, innocent memories, energetic bonds are still clearly etched in our minds, hearts. Not to forget special dreams, silly secrets, magnificent mysteries! Blissful…