Last night, I watched one of my favourite movies “Sound of Music” again and was overwhelmed with nostalgia about my school, my friends, annual concerts, fêtes, and sports and about childhood in general. It made me think and it made think really hard of today’s kids and the world we are creating for them to embrace the future.
My childhood was really a happy one. My world comprised books of all kinds – study, stories, general knowledge and the like, school and its brilliant environment, friends and playtime, vacations and joys it brought forward with it and a plethora of activities it brought with it. Yet at that point of time, I just couldn’t wait to grow up.
Cut to today’s day and time. I see children – lots of them – friends, colleagues, acquaintances, relatives and their growing clan (may there be many more) rushing through their childhood… not wanting to grow up fast but option less nevertheless. These little ones are under tremendous parental, peer pressures and do not have the time to pause and smell the flowers, no time to catch the dragonfly, no time to be one’s ownself……
Are these futures pillars of the world to be blamed for their plight??? I don’t think so. Are we refusing our children a peek into the happiness of childhood thinking it’s a waste of time???? Thinking we ultimately did not benefit from it. I do not about the others but I DID benefit from it….. maybe not quantifiable in terms of monetary wealth & status in the society but certainly in terms of goodness, love, respect, learning to share, taking out time for somebody who needs me. That does not mean I will not do justice to all the commitments I have in my life. I am lucky to have friends with whom I have reunited after about a decade of hiatus and it certainly smells of bygone days of childhood and growing up years. Social networking sites brought us back into each others’ spheres but socially we all toiled to be back socially and personally…
I do not have a child….. do not know about the future too…. But if I ever have one, I’ll make sure that he or she learns to take out time and smell the flowers!!!!
My childhood was really a happy one. My world comprised books of all kinds – study, stories, general knowledge and the like, school and its brilliant environment, friends and playtime, vacations and joys it brought forward with it and a plethora of activities it brought with it. Yet at that point of time, I just couldn’t wait to grow up.
Cut to today’s day and time. I see children – lots of them – friends, colleagues, acquaintances, relatives and their growing clan (may there be many more) rushing through their childhood… not wanting to grow up fast but option less nevertheless. These little ones are under tremendous parental, peer pressures and do not have the time to pause and smell the flowers, no time to catch the dragonfly, no time to be one’s ownself……
Are these futures pillars of the world to be blamed for their plight??? I don’t think so. Are we refusing our children a peek into the happiness of childhood thinking it’s a waste of time???? Thinking we ultimately did not benefit from it. I do not about the others but I DID benefit from it….. maybe not quantifiable in terms of monetary wealth & status in the society but certainly in terms of goodness, love, respect, learning to share, taking out time for somebody who needs me. That does not mean I will not do justice to all the commitments I have in my life. I am lucky to have friends with whom I have reunited after about a decade of hiatus and it certainly smells of bygone days of childhood and growing up years. Social networking sites brought us back into each others’ spheres but socially we all toiled to be back socially and personally…
I do not have a child….. do not know about the future too…. But if I ever have one, I’ll make sure that he or she learns to take out time and smell the flowers!!!!
