Reminiscing simple childhood with fondness, riddled with mischiefs & antics. A 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. Even the colours are brighter! Disillusioned, disenchanted? No, we just embraced each moment.
Exciting, inventive outdoor games. Opening batsman in a brother’s cricket team, valued. Crazy about climbing trees, magi picking. Stuck dangerously high, needing rescues. Often, fearless with blood-stained shirts, torn uniforms – bruises, cuts, scratches. Relied on white chalk to hide shoe dirt. Adventurous, tenacious in unfamiliar situations. Mom uneasy buying new uniforms, shoes almost each month!
No internet, mobiles, video games. No virtuality. Sharing giggles with friends. Operating confusing knobs on TV sets (no remotes). Frustrating resets of TV antennas for better signals. Truck loads of audio & video cassettes, music records. Beatles, Abba. Carefree dancing. TV’s were a shared neighbourhood asset, community viewing of popular shows, just like landline phones. Slowly, life turned from black & white to colour. Going to movies was reason enough to dress up.
Always alert for parent footsteps. Pretending to be asleep! Feigning stomach aches, naughty twinkles in eyes hoping to avoid school, chores, tests. Collecting feathers, flowers. Board games – ludo, chess, carom, card games with friends. Loved kite flying, candy-floss, sand castles, picnics.
Incredible family holidays, summer camps, adventures in nature. Joyfully jumped into cold lakes, waterfalls, dirty mud puddles. Super sweaty afternoon’s at sporting activities in school trips, spontaneous moments of joy. Free-form dancing in monsoon rains, paper-boat competitions. Skipping ropes.
What a move from metallic geometry boxes to magnetic pencil boxes, boring erasers to scented ones. Fountain pens tediously re-filled with royal blue ink, mostly splattered on crisp white shirts, fingers. Practical ball-point pens were magical, though it spoilt hand-writing. Loved writing long letters. Fully immersed in creative school projects & hobbies.
Time not at malls but circulating at libraries. Library cards as precious as gold. Vividly imagined stories of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five, Secret Seven to Nancy Drew’s, Hardy Boys, Agatha Christies. Curiously collected stamps, coins, souvenirs, post cards from travels. Train journeys packed with home food, leaky water coolers. Ran at platforms for water re-fills during brief train stops.
Now, stress & sensory overloads push childhood away. Innocent memories are still clearly etched in our minds & hearts. Not to forget the delightful dreams, silly secrets, magnificent mysteries! Blissful…