Time travel… May be….
Reminiscing about the days gone by and indulging in the memories of yesteryear invariably puts most of us in a happy space. Quite often I find myself wondering how wonderful it would be if I could go back in time.
After deliberating over quite some time, I feel it would be a little unfair to pick up any particular memory, hence I am referring to an entire phase I would want to go back to.
The times when I was still in my middle and high school, those were the happiest and most exciting days of my life. My father served the Indian army and we kept moving every 2 to 3 years. The excitement of exploring new places and avenues, of making new friends and writing letters to the ones we left behind were just some of the highlights of being an army kid. I grew up in pretty huge houses and we would have huge playgrounds to run around and engage with our neighbors, strangers, the trees, the birds, the cows, the grass, the bees, the breeze, the clear blue skies in short we were privileged to get to engage with our environment.
My mother is a home-maker, after she would pack all 3 of us; my dad, my elder brother and me to our respective destinations for the day, would spend her time in tiding the house and cooking some of the most delicious meals ever, till we (my brother & me) would come back and turn the house upside-down.
My mum would patiently hear our never-ending stories about our day at school while prepping us for the evening. In the little time she managed to steal from her exhausting schedule, she would devote it to the garden we always had. My mum and brother would somehow manage to carve out beautiful gardens in all the places we have lived in. One could find flowers of all colors standing tall and bright, the garden would always have this huge section where mum would grow seasonal vegetables. There was this evening routine we would anticipate each day; it was the time to water the plants and pluck the vegetables which were ready to be used. While my brother would help mum, I would be busy chasing butterflies and bugs of all kind.
Post our time in the garden we would join our friends in the grounds. On some days we would bring along our cycles and then sometime we would get our skates. Some days we played cricket and on the other we would play hockey or badminton. We would climb trees, play a few more games of hide and seek or we would simply run around. Playgrounds were the spaces where important discussions of our life, dreams and crushes would take place. I can never thank my stars enough for growing up in the times when our lives were untouched and unadulterated by the overwhelming presence of mobile phones and internet.
Evenings were meant for family time, all 5 (mum, dad, my brother, Shampoo our pet dog and me) would sit together and engage in discussions over some delicious snacks my parents would prepare. This was also the time my dad would help us with our studies. The most cherished memory of my childhood are the values my parents inculcated without making it apparent and forced. Dad would always help mum in the kitchen and would encourage us to contribute in whatever ways we could, for instance getting water bottles and glasses or the dishes.
The times when dad would be away in distant land owing to his job commitments, there would be yet another dimension added to our lives to keep up with the excitement; the postman and the dainty fixed line phones. Dad would call up every Sunday and we would eagerly wait for that one call. We of-course had the letters, I preferred writing to my dad, I would draw cards using crayons and pencil colors and my dad would always lovingly respond, those letters are the most precious of all.
All our days were exciting in their own ways; no two days were the same. As I reflect back in time, I feel immensely grateful to my parents for giving us such a beautiful childhood. We had the privilege to engage with different aspects; we grew up together with the nature; we were taught to respect every little entity and our fellow living beings. I would want to re-emphasize on our alliance with the soil, the trees, the insects..primarily our immediate environment. We were encouraged to read and write. The times we grew up in were far simpler, we had a deep sense of organic camaraderie which I feel is diminishing in the times we are living in.
But as the saying goes ‘nothing is sacrosanct’, times are bound to change and they should change for the better. And for me wanting to go back in time will always remain a desire I’ll hold very close to my heart, I won’t really want to call it a wishful thinking, but maybe somewhere in a parallel universe I would want to live my childhood all over again.