8 Again! (Contd.)

"If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older." (Tom Stoppard)

As a kid, the world was a playing field. As a teen, the world was a stage. And now as a grown-up adult, the world is a work-field. 

As a kid, all we thought was the world was a playground and we were all players. And we came into this world just to play. Only just to play. Nothing else. Studies and schools were just a time pass. Our main purpose in this world was to play and have fun. Well, it may be true metaphorically also to a grown-up, but we never thought about it metaphorically, we always thought everything literally. We thought everything in simple terms. And far from any complications, simplicity was the way of life. But as a grown-up, we tend to complicate things. 

Those days, life was all about playing and having fun. Yes, we grown-ups do play and have fun too... now we play in the computer or mobile or playing machines. Everything is becoming digital now. But as a kid, life was full, alive and vibrant like the seas. 

Happiness curve is U-shaped

Happiness Curve (Courtesy: Daily Telegraph)

Studies have shown that life begins to recede in the late 20's and doesn't recover up until 65 and it hits rock bottom at 44. It also supports Victor Hugo's viewpoint of 40 as the old age of youth and 50 the youth of old age. All I want to say here is that childhood days are the happiest and funnest. And we tend to keep going back to those days again and again. Sadly, 40s are the grimmest. Even worse if you happen to get a bad wife. Socrates once said that if you got a bad wife, you would become a philosopher. But for good or worse, I don't know, I have become one already. Hmm, wife? Yet to find one.

In fact, a kid will never understand fully the mind of a grown-up. But sadly, a grown-up easily forgets that he was once a kid too, long time back. As a matter of fact, both belongs to the different worlds but within the same world. But above all, I still cherish those childhood days most -- in fact, mucher more than my teens days. Because I was living my life in full. But now as a grown-up, it's hard to live a life that way -- like the one I once used to as a kid. Now I am busy chasing after my dreams and money. Like chasing after the wind.

In many ways, being innocent and foolish like a kid is a great gain. In doing so, the life will become simpler free of tensions, free of strife, and free of heart failures. And the world will become a peaceful place to live. And there won't be any sleep disorders anymore. And we all will be able to sleep peacefully. Like a child again. 

Stanley Ka Dabba effect

Drizzling rain, I am half wet with a half pant, and about to be dipped in the sea 

Too much of a good stuff is a bad stuff, courtesy, The Karate Kid

I read, a few years back, the importance of observing some kind of a ritual called ME TIME. Since then whenever I can, I have been observing this ritual. Let me tell you it's been quite helpful, health wise, soul-wise, and heart wise. I call myself a busy person, though I don't know exactly what I am busy at actually. When I work, I work as if the world is going to end tomorrow. But when I sleep, you can say, I sleep no less than the old-time Kumbakarna. In fact, few of my friends do know this. So a difficult to understand person you will ever come across in your life.

And at the end of the day, being busy makes me drained out all the time without me noticing it myself. But the last three or four months have been a heck of a time for me, doing good stuffs only, not bad stuff though, but it was becoming too much for me. So I thought I would have this Me Time. A long one this time. Only 'Me' Time. No one else. Um, too selfish, nah, huh? But I have found this ritual to be soul-enriching and soul-rejuvenating. Every time I have this ritual, I come out as a renewed soul. So you will know today how renewed I am after all this.

But in essence, we are all like rechargeable batteries. We are never constant. We change all the time even though we hardly notice it ourselves. We go down and we go up. We lose and we gain. We drain out ourselves and we need to get those back again to 'soar like eagles against the wind'. It's as simple as 'in giving that we receive' equation and vice versa. But sometimes we need to receive too.

Just one month back, it was, oh, my God, unbearable. In Mumbai, the mercury soared to 40 or something. Oh, my... Yes, as it is always, the sun is splendidly generous and warm-hearted fellow, umm, like me, hmm, but when it is too generous, it is unbearable. It was too hot to bear. Poor me, I don't have ACs installed in my room. But fortunately very recently the rescuer came for us poor people from these too generous sunbeams. The Mumbai Rain. The unpredictable Mumbai rain came earlier than usual this time. Now I got a clear respite from the blazing heat. And not the least, I got myself wet in the rain. Being wet in the rain is a different feeling altogether. Wow, I didn't fall sick. Sometimes try it and see it for yourself. But please don't blame me if you get sick after doing it, though.

Stanley Ka Dabba effect     

Lately some strange things are happening in my life. But I will be writing only the good, bad... but not the ugly part. I have to keep some secret too.

I have been having this strange idea, or you can say bizarre idea, lately. Oh, I want to become an eight-year old boy all over again. If God were to give me a chance. Like they do in Project Makeover wherein a lady was given a chance to go back to her past. But unlike the movie here, I won't want to be a grown-up. I would request to God that I would want to remain a child... forever kid... and die as a kid. Somewhere like in the age of Stanley in the Stanley ka Dabba. I don't think I would be bored of being a forever child. And forever is not always forever anyway. And yes, for sure, on the other hand, you will be bored of being a forever grown-up sooner. Because both the worlds of a kid and a grown-up are entirely different things.    

As a kid, and ironically, our hearts were as huge as the ocean and as wide-open like the sky. But as a grown-up, our hearts are like dome. It has a roof now. I don't know from where this roof came from. As a kid, we never had one. Our eyes were as pure as the morning dew without a dirt. As a grown up, now we see everything through a 'stained-glass' eyes.

Those days, it was easier to make friends. All it needed was just your name. That's it. It didn't matter much how many marks you scored in Maths or Science. Or whether your parents were Doctor, or Engineer or a Carpenter. Or whether your house was beautiful made of bricks or a thatched one. Friends were all around. Now no worries for friends. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg, we have Facebook now.

Oh, we sometimes, too, fought over some petty things. But it never lasted long. Umm, I don't know whether I should tell you this or not. All right. I am going to write this anyway because you're not going to believe this. Till my II grade, I had involved myself in fights that involved fist, kicks and what not. All kids at that age do that by the way. I was not spared from it despite being an innocent-looking chap. But since starting my III grade, I have never involved in fights with anyone till date.

It was in my grade I. Just like the Stanley and his bench-mate started the fight in the movie, it did too on that day, though we had a slightly different issue. There were five of us sitting in a bench. The problem was, I didn't want to sit in the corner against the wall. That guy too didn't want either. And because it was the last class of the day, we all wanted to run out of the class and reach home first. Sitting in the corner would mean that you would be the last person to leave the class. And I didn't want to be the last person to leave either. So we both started verbal first. Then he seemed out of control, he first punched me out of nowhere. I still don't know why he punched me on my teeth. Oooh!!! And in return, amidst the other classmates trying to dissuade us both from fighting, I managed to give a nice punch on his face. Wow. By that time, the Headmaster... not like the 'how are my kids today?' kind of Rosie teacher in the movie... came running with his famous cane-stick. [I respect this Headmaster a lot till this day]. And we both got a nice beating from him and were made to stand out of the class for the whole period. Oh, so bad! Surprisingly, I have never seen him since my grade II till this day.

Bad boy, huh?


[To be continued....]