Colorful culprits

Till about a few years ago.. my mother and I would go to the neighborhood grocery shop with a neatly written list. He would then pack all the items in newspaper bags, tie them with thin jute or cotton threads to avoid spillage, stack them all in one corner to cross check in our presence. After the formalities are done, he would arrange them in the bags that we took along and hand them over to us. Same with the fruits and veggies shopping. We go to the respective markets, pick what is needed and then get them packed in our bags.

Cut the scene to mid to late nineties.. One would go to a supermarket, pick all that appeals to the eye ( not necessarily to the pocket), get them billed through the automated machines ( ya. Still there are some discrepancies I know).. Pack them in as many bags ( shop’s bags not ours) as we want to bring them home.. Same goes for veggies, fruits, clothes, shoes, bangles what not….

Weddings, functions, birthdays then used to have either banana leaves or steel plates ( to cater to the buffet system) that slowly but surely is replaced by plastic plates ( these are still Ok, reusable), cups, glasses, spoons, bags etc.. making the whole affair really ‘plastic’ with a special title ‘disposable’.

Well so what?? Convention should pay way to convenience… is that right?? What am I complaining here? Nothing.. I would like to believe that everything is still fine.. So what if these bags do not degrade in a million years of time?? So shat if we indiscriminately use these and throw wherever we want or can or even can’t? So what if these get clogged and result in the inundation of our cities? So what if poor stray animals eat them and die? So what even if don’t have a strong solid waste management system in place? These are not new questions to us.. but we need to get the new answers.. or ask some new questions..

Did we not survive without these colorful culprits till as long as we could? Did we not serve food in banana leaves and steel glasses ( to even a thousand people?) Did we not reuse our newspapers to store our grains and food? We did.. so why can’t we do it now?? We should because we care to leave the same earth if not better for our kids and the next generations to come..

A child in you...

Do I have a child in me... still active and alive?? or have I lost that innocence in the constant struggle of achieving something, attaining my goals and amidst all the other mundane tasks....

what can I do to bring back the blissful childhood experiences ( I know it is impossible to bring the childhood back) ?? are these the kind of questions bother only me?? or do I have some supporters elsewhere??

This is the question that I have always asked myself from time to time. I thought I had realized cracking this puzzle one day ( May be I have done this earlier without me acknowledging it)

I never tried swimming in my life till one summer break that my son and I were enjoying together. This was the first ever time I had a brief break in my career. In the hot, hotter, hottest weather of Dubai, our roof top swimming pool used to allure us like an oasis in the otherwise concrete jungle built right in the desert.

One evening while the sun was still shining brighter, though not at his best... we went up to the terrace to check the temperature of the pool and the intensity of the sun. My son plunged into the water without even a second thought, tried his best to pull me into it. My initial resistance gave way to the new found desire of 'being able to swim'.

The next minute I was in water along with him, playing with the red ball, splashing water all over, watching him go underwater to fetch a coin or a rubber band, trying to learn the tricks from him and of course trying to learn to float if not swim. Neither of us knew how time flew in the water ( literally )... soon I realized that I was playing like him, with him, laughing like him, with him, having fun like him, with him.... just like him.. just like my child.. or just like a child to be precise... giggling and howling without any inhibitions.
That gave me an answer it is always in me.. the child ... also showed me the need to bring it out or even recognize when I did that.... else I may lose it in my day to day routine..

So next time if you want to.... play with balloons in some one's birthday, have an ice cream while protecting yourself from the rain with an umbrella, see the sailing of paper boats in the tiny little rivulets formed by the rain, feel like going for a cycling race with your children.. just go ahead and do it (even if it is occassionally )... for all these and many other cute little acts like this make you feel wonderfully young, completely rejuvenated and more importantly help you to stay connected with the younger ones at your home..

Do let me know if you have any similar experiences...