That Nostalgic Childhood!

Childhood-The very word drifts us into a sweet world of memories, goof-ups, foolishness, fun and you know..a lot more stuff. How many of us want to revisit and relive those days? Those days when little things mattered! Things like playing in the sand, going around your colony on your tricycle, going to school with many toffees in your pocket, attending birthday parties gave you a lot of joy.

The joy of walking home with a Tinkle in your arm, and occasionally an Enid Blyton's book would just make your day. The pocket money you receive from your grandparents, the warmth of your grand-mother and her amazing stories, your play room, playing silly games with your cousins, listening to Michael Jackson and ABBA, waiting for Disney Hour, and CatDog were a part of your childhood.

I vividly remember every part of my childhood. Summers were always awesome.I spent my every Summer at my grand-mother's place in Calcutta. Summers to me meant holidays, shopping, ice-creams, a visit to the library in the evenings, lying in a bath tub, long evening-walks with your cousins, short night walks with your grandpa, a visit to the closest Pani-puri center. Those were the days when we had time for family and those were the days of epic fun. And today, amidst this hectic, monotonic life, we have regular bouts of our childhood and how pretty they were!

These days, we see kids struggling to spend their Summers properly. Thanks to the corporate schools and our crappy education system for they are thrown into rigorous IIT coaching during the Summers. How on Earth can a twelve year old decipher IIT syllabus? But well, who cares? There were days when every kid in the colony would go play in the evening and these kids would make a point to drag the kids who wished to stay home. And today, kids prefer staying home to complete their homework which happens to be more complex than my engineering assignments. No, seriously!

And do I need to mention the cartoons? Yes, the anime cartoons! We had simple cartoons like Tom and Jerry, Scooby Doo, Captain Planet and well, you get the drift. I am really sorry for the kids now for they have to put up with such terrible cartoons that tend to give me a massive head-ache. Books were a major part of our lives back then. R.K. Narayan, Ruskin Bond, Satyajit Raj, Enid Blyton were our stars (and still are); Tinkle, Archies were such a delight. And most of the kids today..umm..read nothing. How unfortunate!

Everyone paints a rosy picture of their childhood. My grand-mother did, my mother does, I do. I just hope that every kid makes their childhood memorable and a period that would bring a smile on their faces instead of sulking at IIT coaching centers and spoiling the best part of anyone's life-the childhood!

I See Her

25 minutes

She did not come.

45 minutes

She must have been stuck in a traffic jam.

60 minutes

Now I am scared. 

Ananya was never late. She was always on time. I have been meeting her in this park for the past six months and she has never been late. She would reach here by 8 PM and stay till 9 PM. She would not stay for a minute over 9 even if I pleaded her. I fell on her feet too.Tough luck! Never worked. She said she had family issues. I said that I understood. Honestly, I never did. She never gave me her number. She said she did not have one. I never forced her into anything. I loved her. I found solace in her. After a hectic day of work at college, she was the only one that gave me happiness. Pure happiness! The sixty minutes of time that I spent with her on this bench gave me the world of joy. She was mine. 

But she did not come today. The next day.  And the very next day.

I could not take her off my mind. Her long black tresses, her big black eyes, her expressions made me sigh. Where did she go? There was no way that I could get to her. Did she realize that she was throwing me into a mess? I stopped going to the college and sat in the park the whole day. May be she decided to come early? She wouldn't even be able to contact me. I thought of all the moments I spent with her. She always dressed in light colours. I saw her mostly in white and pink. She loved pink. She always laughed loudly, and always smiled. She reserved a special smile for me. It made me go crazy. She was mine.

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into some more weeks, and no, they did not turn into months. I wouldn't let that happen, would I? I vaguely remembered the name of the locality she stayed. She said many times that it was her favourite place. I wasted no time. I got into my car and reached her locality. It took me an odd thirty minutes. It did not take much time for me to recognize her house. The name plate on a house showed her surname. I went in. After a few impatient knocks, her servant opened the door. I asked for Ananya, he took me to a room which had her parents in it. Her mom looked like an older version of Ananya. I understood where her good looks have come from.

"Aunty, I am Ananya's friend. Can I talk to her for a while?" I wanted to see her. I was desperate.

"Since when have you been her friend?” she eyed me warily.

"Umm, six months."

"You are joking. Aren't you?"

"Why would I? She is not coming to the college every day. We were worried. Can I meet her once?", her dad did not even look at me. Arrogance! :|

"Boy! Are you out of your mind? Are you even at the right Ananya's place?"

"Are you Mrs Malhotra?"

"Very much I am."

"Then I am at the right place. Call her. Please!"

"You make no sense at all. I suppose you were on a long break, and a very long one at that."

She sighed and asked me to follow her. She took me to a room and showed me a picture. I stood at my place and did not move a tiny bit. Aunty put a piece of paper in my hand and left the room. No! This couldn't have happened. I met her just three weeks ago. Tears welled in my eyes. 

15th April, 2008. Her death certificate was dated with this. It has been four years now. And I could see her. My world was devastated. How could she die? I walked out of her house dazed.

I drove like a madman. Period. I saw her, I saw her. She was standing by the park. The same special smile! And before I could stop her, I saw her vanish into thin air in front of my eyes. It sent a chill down my spine. 

It all happened in seconds and I couldn't do anything. But I did not want to sulk over it. She chose to show herself to me. Just me! I felt special. There was a reason for everything and this girl made my life special. Indeed! 

I headed back home with a smile on my face. I was special. And she was mine.

I still see her at times today. She doesn't talk to me. But whenever I am in trouble, she appears. I know that she will be there for me. Forever!

Today, I am fifty and it's my daughter Ananya's wedding. Nothing has changed. I still see her.