Random Thoughts-Childhood

“ My present is perfect

It will turn to past soon

I would remember it fondly

May even take a cue

But may not like to relive”

Often people say that they would love to re-live the good olden days of childhood. When we tell our children about our simple yet enriched childhood, we become nostalgic. The outdoor games, sleeping under the open sky in summers and many other simple inexpensive pleasures we fondly remember were relevant at that point in time. This I experienced very recently.

On my recent visit to Jammu, my hometown, I was happy and excited to meet my old friends and relatives, refreshing the golden childhood. There were frequent electricity breakdowns at that time and we used to sleep on rooftops enjoying the moon and twinkling stars. The summer nights were sometimes cool, sometimes rainy or humid. But it didn’t affect our sleep and we would wake up fresh and bright.

As most children, my son also had heard this story countless times. A few days back, the transformer broke down in the area where my sister lives. As it was evening time electricity department was closed, so nothing could be done till the next morning. The inverter also said goodbye after a few hours. As it was unbearably hot in the rooms, we decided to go to the rooftop looking for some relief.

The sky was neither cloudy nor clear, which meant a bit of fresh air in long intervals. In our enthusiasm to relive our childhood days, decided to sleep there. We made our self as comfortable as possible and tried to sleep looking at the sky. But we were not prepared for the music of mosquitoes and the discomfort of humid air. Even tried our childhood rescue instrument the wooden hand fans (called pakhi in Dogri). The night which was supposed to be just like olden days turned out to be a nightmare.

Today’s reality is we can’t live without present-day amenities. I think we should be careful when wishing for good olden days, because those circumstances and the environment was right that time but not for now.

Copyright (c) 2018 Namrata D Prabhakar

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