Sam Ewing beautifully orchestrated what I have been feeling for
the past few days ‘When you finally go back to your old hometown, you find it wasn't the
old home you missed but your childhood.’ I recently visited Shillong
where I spent my entire childhood before being engulfed in the never ending
battle of what we call life. The
house, lanes, school, friends and teachers; I left everyone behind when I
ventured out to make something of myself but was it worth it? Leaving behind
what was once very much a part of me and what now only exists by virtue of Facebook
likes or pokes?
Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you
are, the things you never want to lose. –The Wonder Years
So much has changed since the carefree days of my existence
where my only responsibility was to study. I had all the time and luxuries in life;
even the choice to do what I wanted and the way I preferred. But now that I am
all ‘settled’,
at least that’s what they say; I have no time for anything apart from the
mundane work and the much detested kitchen. The trip down the memory lane made
me realise that the days that I so relish are long gone only to be revisited in
the hearts silent whispers. The blithe life that I once knew is never to
return. If this is what growing up means then I so wish to travel back in time;
start my life over again!
In childhood, we press our nose to the pane, looking out. In memories of childhood, we press our nose
to the pane, looking in. ~Robert Brault
The daily struggle of going to school; home works and tests;
teachers and friends; class picnics and serene family time with parents and
siblings is what I long for! Strange are the ways of life more so for women;
they need to give up so much and begin a new life. They need to hold on to the
past and the present together while men have no such choices to make. It annoys
me that it is expected of a woman to spend time with her parents and siblings
only during vacations while a man never has to let go of his family. If a woman
chooses to do the same she is termed a bad wife and an even worse
daughter-in-law. Of course, one may say things have changed but I know for a
fact this thought process thrives till today. Unfortunate I know but not
impossible to change I am sure!
A thought crosses my mind every time I fell sick my parents
were by my side no matter what. But today when they need me more than ever I am
engrossed in the never-ending run for survival. What had happened and what has
changed in our society; its way of living in the span of a few years? What such
a paradigm shift where we get only a week or so in a year to spend with family
and friends? Is it really worth it? When I became an engineer and started
working I was of the opinion that I had become free but as I look back now I
was just shackled by the corporate honchos for a few bucks; having to give up or
put off everything that mattered to me. So much decay in the way life functions
these days; sad but again a universal fact!
I'd give all wealth that years
have piled,
The slow result of Life's decay,
To be once more a little child
For one bright summer day.
~Lewis Carroll
Until the next visit I shall carry the sweet twinge of a
lost childhood; until the next holiday I shall with fervour lead a humdrum life;
until the next visit I shall try not to let life spiral in a mechanical path;
until the next break I shall carry Ma’s touch; until the next leave I shall reminisce
papa’s hug; until the next time I shall dream each day of a blissful few days as
my parent’s princess!
The older I grow the more earnestly I feel that the few joys of
childhood are the best that life has to give.
~Ellen Glasgow