Those days of innocence

Let us rewind our life by a whole decade...maybe half more......that's when we reach those beautiful days which our parents enjoyed more than us(hopefully ;) ) Anyway, yes, that is my handwriting. Supposed to be a birthday card for my 2 year old sis, so the four year old me had just started learning to write. I doubt I actually realized what I wrote then but when I found it while searching for something else,it brought this smile to my face and I was transported back to that age.

Ahh yes, my first memory, narrated by my mom. At the age of 2, totally inspired by seeing my mother washing clothes, I decided to wash my dear little soft toy Foxy by soaking it in a bucket full of water(which I filled myself :P ) and then putting it to dry on a dining chair. So when does my poor mom spot it? When guests come over that day and she offers the very chair..dripping wet...

And another one I'm still flabbergasted as to how I thought of such details. It was a simple lie . In the 2nd standard to a senior teacher. She asked me a simple question." What does your father do? " And what does the imaginative 7 year old say...."He is an astronaut. He has gone to the moon". My teacher was smart. She asked me back."When will he come back?". I thought for a second and said "2 months." Trust me, the answer wasn't a random one. I did think about the space ship and stuff and kind of knew that he won't be back in a day. By the way, when the teacher came back in the 3rd standard and asked me whether my dad was back from the moon,  I just fumbled and mumbled something realizing I shouldn't lie about things that can't be justified.

 I guess you are wondering how I can remember something that happened 11 years ago. I have a person who can vouch for it.

I have a classmate Aashish Mittal in engineering now who also happened to be in my school till the 2nd standard when he changed schools. He wasn't a friend of mine then. But, when I saw him on the first day of college, I sort of remembered his face and name and asked him whether he was in my school. He thought for quite some time and he looked at me and agreed but with a shocked expression. His question was expected. HOW DO YOU REMEMBER??????? ( P.S He actually went home and searched for the class photos to find me and yet he was unsuccessful in recognizing me in the picture :P )


Ahh yes, another story I remember and just can't help laughing at. My dad likes listening to the vedas. He would play them in the evening on the stereo. On one of these occasions when I was 9, my friends came to call me from below my 1st floor balcony. I don't remember why I didn't want to go down to play that day but I made up a reason. "Some brahmins have come to do some puja and I have to dance for them" . Dance!! I'm still going mad. And the "kid who had been taught never to lie" that I was, I actually danced some stupid steps to that rhythm because I felt guilty (:O). And really, I guess people see through my lies cuz my friends said they didn't see those people leave and you know how my face would have been. :P

Before you think my childhood was spent only lying,I also found a letter from my grandfather. I and my sister used to write (actual ones) letters to my grandparents and then decorate the borders with creepers and flowers. But when email came and it was simpler, you might think the essence was lost. But I really didn't let that happen. I used to draw designs using Paint and use them as background for the email. Also, I used to put some pic of ours taken using the webcam at the top and say something like "Hope this picture brings back those fun filled memories when we were there and make you smile the whole day whenever you think of it." at the end of the letter. My grandparents used to love those letters and actually read them twice!

How innovation arises out of innocence is just impossible to believe. Kids talk to their soft toys , make their own world with no fear of the world calling them mad. Although, I wasn't a soft toy enthusiast, I remember when I was 6, I used to assume that I was the daughter of the king of half of a parallel world exactly same as the earth and I can be transported to that world by mind. James Cameron may just have competition. :P I made up so many stories related to that world at that age. Now, I can do nothing but just wonder, where has all that gone?

Even love is unconditional at that age. You would never have thought what your sibling is gonna do for your birthday when you are preparing for their birthday. When I was in the 9th or something, I remember my sister made a card and got everyone in the Hindi marathi tution I go to and some of her schoolmates who were prefects under me to sign it, all done without my knowledge. It was so simple yet so thought of. It was one of my best birthdays really. Childhood, I can't but look back with admiration.

So, those were my days of innocence. Those care free days can never be compensated by anything. I really am awestruck (it really isn't self-obsession) at myself then. I really had a wonderful time living back the days of my first decade. Hope you had too. And yes, do share your childhood memories which might just light up the face of anyone who reads it making that smile last. :)