STRANGE !!!

Had a very eccentric experience today morning. And the strangest part about the whole experience was that it was not strange at all. No no, I haven’t lost my mind. It’s just that I heard a few children shouting in my neighbour’s backyard, and felt like joining them. So you might ask wats so strange in this? Yap a 20 year old thinking like this might sound a wee bit weird, but we all sometimes think on such similar terms. But that’s the whole point. It’s just that I felt so happy, that I wished to join them. It kind of reminded me of my childhood days when I used to shout in the same way and spend hours in the sun playing with my cousins. Making marble houses with my sis, running after each other threatening to eat up some or the other body parts, trying to fly kites (which won’t fly even over our heads), sneaking out in the afternoon to have a bottle of fanta or ice creams, playing houses or ghosts… those days were such fun. Living in joint families has their own benefits. And the added attractions were always the coming over of cousins; those were the times I used to actually go completely wild. My cousins used to call me a sumo wrestler (because I was extremely over weight) and I had to fight like a one and we also had dummy WWF matches. Rolling over each other to fight was actually the best part. We used to run away from our houses and press the door bell of all our neighbours, and disturb their afternoon naps, celebrate diwali after two days and irritate everybody and start playing holi from a week in advance (only and only water allowed, we used to be soaked up to our skins.) The throwing competitions were so much fun as well (we used to snatch up other’s things and then play catch-and-pass; I used to only enjoy if the things did not belong to me.) As we grew up, our childish games replaced the more serious “personal talks” that included our latest crushes, school bullies, colony ‘dadas’ and school toppers. How we used to ‘plan’ to hang our respective school toppers, or rather do something that would make them a lesser nerds than they were actually, or thrash up the school bullies and seniors (though we never got over the stage of planning and did NOTHING of the sort.) I still remember our pillow fights and blowing of bubbles from tooth pastes. Nothing can replace those carefree days of childhood. Now I regret growing up, and also that we all cousins have scattered to different parts of the world.

I don’t know but something has gone terribly wrong with the kids of my colony as well. They just don’t play in the evening. Hardly can I see a soul or two playing badminton or cycling. Whatever happened to the games like cricket, cycle racing and pittoo and marbles? I used to spend hours (up till my tenth standard) playing in the evening. Maybe these kids have become more interested in indoor games or TV; or rather their parents have become more concerned about studies and decided that tuitions are more important than playing. Whatever it is, but I am certainly missing the tempo of summer holidays, when I used to play out till dark, and after that badminton under street lights and curse the uncles who used to park their cars or aunties gossiping in our playground( ie on the streets). It was only at dinner time that my parents could persuade me to return home. I used to go for morning walks as well during holidays ( I guess I wasn’t so lazy after all). But seriously I am missing that environment… actually wondering has there developed a kind of generation- gap between us? ( By the way, mind you, I am just 20 and they can’t be more than 7-8). But things have definitely changed, maybe for the worse. (funda thoda jyada ho gaya hai na? Am I sounding like an aunty? Whatever. Period. )