Blast from the past
While I was thinking on how to kill the entire day, I
plugged my headphone and tuned into some radio station where the RJ was going
on blabbering something which made me to jump few stations back and forth just
to land again in the same station, but now the RJ had stopped speaking and one
of my favorite song was being played.
Even after
Yesudas finished with his last line, “En eniya pon nila..ve.” and the music
slowly stopped; I still kept singing. There was no stopping me, I imagined
myself singing at the opera house with millions of fans gathered just to see me
sing. I was in full flow until the RJ broke my singing extravaganza. The RJ
updated the listeners about the traffic condition in the city and then told the
topic for the show “CHILDHOOD MEMORIES”. He told that the lines were open and
callers can pour in and share their stories and followed it up with another
masterpiece from Ilaiyaraja. But this time, even a song with of caliber of
‘Mandram Vandha’ could not gain my attention. I was lost, lost in my childhood
memories.
Unlike
today’s technologised childhood, mine was something different; only late 80’s
and early 90’s kinds knew what I’m talking about. The first thing that comes to
my mind is my first school. For most of my generation children first school
should have started in the mid 3rd year but I see children are
admitted at the end of their 2nd year or even prior to that. I don’t
know why parents are in a hurry to join their children; parents are forgetting
that schools don’t teach how to do a open heart surgery or how to built a
rocket or how a DC motor runs. Parents have to remember that learning should
start at home not somewhere else. A,B,C,D’s can be taught in schools but what’s
good and bad can be taught only in home, but they tend to forget that.
My school
in primary section meant black board, chalk pieces, wooden benches and a single
ceiling fan but now they are replaced with projector screens, single seater’s,
fully air conditioned classroom ; but the only thing that didn't change is the
standard of teaching, infact it has gone from bad to worse.
Biscuits,
chocolates- share with others has been replaced with cookies, chocobar’s and
choconuts- eat yourself fully. Parents want their children to be best in
everything and fail to grow them as HUMANS. Parents want their children to be
like ABDUL KALAM and at the same time like SACHIN TENDULKAR and in the end they
lose their own identity at a very young age. A child in 3rd grade
has to travel about an hour from her school to reach her house, then has to
refresh herself and should leave for tuition all week and also for swimming
class, music class, karate class and endless classes throughout the week
without any rest which makes her more exhausted than knowledgeable.
Children
of my generation are fortunate to have played outdoor games. We were lucky that
we had lot of grounds and even our parents allowed us to play outdoor games but
I see that fast disappearing. In my time, a cricket match meant playing along
with other kids of my age and a six or a wicket meant that everyone would come
rushing to you and have best of times but now I see children get attached to
virtual games. Play stations, X- box has taken over and I see kids playing
cricket and all other sport all alone in their living room itself.
Memories
have flown very fast and years have rolled by and myself now at 21, feel that
I’m fortunate that I belong to the generation where human touch was more
important than touch phone. I come back to my present again ending my day
dream, by the time next song was being played and it was another masterpiece
from Ilaiyaraja “Nenaivo oru paravai’. I raised the volume to its peak and
lunged out my head into my window to feel the gentle breeze of the cool
evening.
I saw a
bunch of children playing cricket. Generations have changed but not those
memories. I kept my headphones aside and went down to play.
Blast from the past!!!
Comments
Post a Comment