Tag: Children

My childhood rain memories

It is that time of the year, again (In India)! 🙂 Yes, the monsoon season, indeed. As my readers already know from several of my previous posts, I love the rain.

rainRain reminds me the most about treks, chai-pakodas, the ‘terrifying and soothing at the same time’ property of nature, and the romantic breeze, of course; but I have talked about those things previously. Today, as my life currently revolves around my cute little 2 months old daughter, I have decided to write about my childhood rain memories. I think I did have a gala time with the rains during my childhood, too. Doing what? Here’s my top 5!

1. Making paper boats

paper boats

One of the first memories I have of ‘fun in the rain’ is of making paper boats and releasing them in nearby gutters, and seeing how many reach the far end! Of course, most boats used to sink soon; and hence used to begin the competition of seeing ‘whose’ boats among the group of budding ship builders floated the most. As I grew older, I learned to make different types of boats:  those with anchors, those with a mainsail and a jib, and so on. I loved it – what wasn’t to love? Making them was fun, getting wet while putting them in gutters was ‘adventurous’, and watching my parents clean up the mess left behind was even more fun…hahaha! I guess that is why we stop making boats when we get older – we have to clean our own mess, don’t we! 😛

2. Jumping and dodging puddles

I don’t need to see a ‘daag acche hain’ commercial to remember how, despite warnings from my parents about the troubles dirty water could cause, I used to jump into puddles and splash water. (Not just on myself, but on unsuspecting and suspecting people, too) hahaha.Puddle I used to also try to dodge these puddles, but the more I jumped around them, the more I ‘accidentally’ launched myself into them. 😛 😀 Not my fault, no? [Evil Grin] 😀

As children we were really carefree! Now, I wouldn’t even dream of doing such a thing. However, I do remember that I accidentally stepped into a puddle on a Jersey City street while on a trip to New York, and felt happy! 😛 😀 Now whether that was from the nostalgia about Indian roads or about actually stepping in puddles, I do not know.

3. Playing while getting drenched

rain-wallpaper-5This should have been number 1, actually! What can beat the ’kick’ we felt when we played while getting soaked from head to toe, wiping our faces again-n-again to see what’s going on around? Ahhhh, coolness, freshness, adventure – thy name is ‘getting drenched’! 😀 My favorite rain game? Catching Cook, Lagori, and swimming. Funnnn! Oh, and coming home to a hot bath after playing our hearts out while getting drenched – heavenly!

 

 

4. Buying rain coats

rainyday

If you are telling me that you did not obsess over colorful umbrellas and rain coats when you were a child, I’d say you are kidding me! 😀 I remember getting all excited at the end of summer about buying new rain coats. Discussing latest fashions was not about clothes and shoes back then; it was about pencil-boxes, labels, and rain coats. How excited I was when the new skirt-n-top rain coats came in the markets! And when the transparent ones did, too! Mmmm the smell of new rubber and plastic…..mmmmm…

5. Singing ‘Ye re ye re paavsa‘ and ‘paus aala vara aala‘. lol… Did you sing rain songs as a child? Which ones?

What were your favorite childhood activities related to rain? Do let me know. 🙂

Irony??

Read an article in The Times of India yesterday ( You can read it here ) . It said that Iran leads the list of countries which still allow capital punishment to children and minors. Well, horrifying, yes….. but all the more so, given the fact that Iranian children’s movies are well-known all over the world for their sensitive presentation of the world of children!!!

Irony, anyone??

A sadly funny situation?

A friend narrated to me an incident he happened to witness. He was approaching a red-light on his bike, and the signal had just turned yellow. When it did, a small boy, with crutches in his hands(mind it, he carried the crutches, and not the other way round…), ran as fast as he could towards the signal, and as he neared it, he slouched and leaned on the crutches, and limped away into the stopped traffic, begging and gathering sympathy!!

What would you call this situation? Funny or sad?

How would you feel for this boy? Sympathetic or disgusted?

 

The answer, my friends, is very difficult!

When I heard this story, I misunderstood it first. I thought the boy was actually limping hard on his crutches to reach upto the signal by the time it turned red. And I was almost filled with pity…

Then my friend retold the story, and I found it somewhat amusing, but I mulled over it for quite some time. Later when I told it to my sister, both of us actually laughed!!

 It is funny, but at the same time it’s sad because it’s so un-natural for children to let go of their innocence and play such tricks for begging. Or is it just an improvization of the tricks normal kids play, without understanding the seriousness of it? yeah, isn’t what this boy did, something like a kid falling and not getting so hurt; but when his mom sees it, crying away to get the attention and care??

Is life totally circumstantial? Is the way we look at things purely subjective?

 

Law??

I read this piece from here, which was in turn published here. Loved it, hated it, both at the same time. Do go through…

The police carried out a raid and closed a factory. The children, who were working there, were all set free. Some said: “We are orphans. To eat we need a livelihood.” The reply was swift and crude: “It is against the law”.
“Then we will have to beg”, they said, “or else we will have no food.” “That, too, is against the law,” the policeman in charge said rudely.
“If we cannot work and cannot beg, then we will die from hunger,’’ replied the crying children. “That you can do,” was the answer. “There is nothing illegal in dying”.

Movie Review: Taare Zameen Par

“Kholo Kholo Darwaze
Parde Karo Kinare
Khuntey Se Bandhi Hai Hawa
Mil Ke Chhudao Saare!!”

And so goes a song, from one of the most intelligent and sensible films that Bollywood has ever produced. For those who don’t understand Hindi,(although that’s strange, since they are reading the review of a Hindi film…) let me translate it. The verse says,“Let’s open the doors,and roll the curtains, and let’s all free the air that’s been tied to a leash!” 🙂

Well, this is just one gem from the invaluable treasure called Taare Zameen Par! The more-than-promising debut of Aamir Khan as a director, and another major step in the evolution of Indian Cinema, the movie makes a permanent mark in the minds of all those who watch it.

Centred round Ishaan Avasthi(Played so well by Darsheel Safary….u can’t miss the sparkle in his eyes…), a dyslexic 8 year-old kid perceived as naughty, lazy and hopeless by the ignorant adults around him, the film provides a heart-wrenching insight on parent-child relationships, social stigma about education, and how an understanding teacher(Aamir Khan, ofcourse!) can turn coal into diamond- without applying pressure!!

Not banking on any of the tried-and-tested formulae for a hit movie(Yeah, no glamourous babes, no high-fundoo action, no family melodrama, no corny comedy, not even the typical rona-dhona  found in sad children’s movies!!!!), the movie still succeeds in making the audience laugh, cry, wince, hope, and most of all, feel, for the characters in the movie!

And yeah, Don’t miss its titles, its dialogues, and the scenes between the art teacher and the dyslexic boy’s parents!!! And HOW can I forget… the 3*9!!! Didn’t get me? Watch the movie, you will!!! And the flipbook, as well!!

Interesting (and important) concept, good story,soulful music, beautiful lyrics, superb performances, technical finesse, and an ammazing direction by Mr. Perfectionist, this movie is a must watch, both for the child and the parent in you!!!!

My Rating:Green, green green!!!!!

No… There are surely rays of hope!

{Author’s Notes: Updated on October 28, 2015}

As I wrote in my earlier post, something else soon happened, which made me feel good about life, about others, and about myself.
One day I had to walk over the same bridge I mentioned, while going to work. As I passed over it, the snapshots of the other day’s incident kept flashing in my mind, and I was really feeling low. As I crossed the bridge, I saw a family of laborers walking a few meters ahead of me. There was a man carrying a lot of heavy stuff in his hands and on his back. Walking alongside him were two women, also carrying quite a few heavy things on them.

And there was a small girl, dirty and barefoot, but cute, nevertheless, as all kids are! She was lagging behind for some time, and then started pleading with her father to pick her up. As the man was already overloaded, he kept walking ahead, and the girl kept crying and running after him. I was about to sink deeper in my depressed state, when one of the women, may be the mother, turned back laughing with an endeared look. She took from her husband the things that were in his right hand, and told him to carry the girl. The girl’s joys knew no bounds; and I mean it – the happy chuckle that she let out as she was carried by her father was really music to my ears!
It had that power to instantly haul me out of my negative thoughts. The man picked up the girl, and the small group went ahead. I did not look at them afterwards; I was only looking within, wondering how such small and day-to-day happenings can create such huge and long-lasting impact on my life…