Revisiting childhood

It was only a couple of years ago that I was sounding like a bereaved grown up crying over the passing away of my childhood. I was missing the toys, the carefree life and the fairytale world I had left behind. People say you have a second childhood when you slip into senility. Really?

Well, I'm not there yet. Even middle age is pretty far off but guess what: I'm on a (re)visit to childhood. Yeah. You heard me right. These days I listen to Old McDonald and This old man. I re-enact that action song I learnt in standard II : I'm a little teapot, short and stout (which I actually am; not the teapot bit tho' shh!). How I love doing that "here's my handle, here's my spout..." thing. This is such fun.

Now I can buy picture-books and shop for toys (Boy! these days they come in every form imaginable). I can read stories in which cats and dogs and pachyderms are the central characters. I can watch cartoons, clap to nursery rhymes and even mimic animal noises. I can make frequent trips to the zoo too. This is absolute fun. If anybody out there wants to revisit childhood, I'd recommend having a child.

Gone is my childhood

`Georgie Porgie pudding and pie
Kissed the girls and made them cry….’
Once upon a time this was the song that amused me most.


Gone are those days when teddy bears were my best friends, playing `mommy’ and `ma’am’ (teacher) were my biggest achievements and lollipops – the yummiest things in the world. Cotton candies were good too but I never got to taste those big fluffy white ones in the sky.


Oh those dreadful colds I frequently caught! How I hated them because they were the monsters who were responsible for my being tucked in bed when all I wanted to do was play. `Play’ reminds me of many a time I was injured on the knees and elbows. The blood that flowed out of there always made me howl and cry. Mamma’s kisses were the only tranquillizers that worked.


Back then, you know what worried me the most? The thought of a tree growing out of my mouth every time I swallowed one of those orange seeds. There were silly adults who actually told me that that was quite possible.


My older brother had his share of fun every time he asked me the spelling of `banana.’ Well, it wasn’t really tough provided someone stopped me from saying too many `NAs.’(I would go on: b-a-n-a-n-a-n-a… Well, I didn’t quite know if the `NA’ had to be said two or three times to complete the spelling of the word.)


That was so many years ago. There are many enchanting memories too. Snow White was the prettiest girl I could imagine and Cinderella, the luckiest ever. However the wicked wolf that killed Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother often haunted my dreams and made me scream at night. And `Sleeping Beauty’ had to be read out to me to put me to sleep again.


Looking back, I realise that I have left behind that fairytale land. Pixies, gnomes and dwarfs are almost forgotten. Those volumes of `Goldilocks’ and `Beauty and the Beast' are covered with dust and even `Little Mermaid’ and `Puss in Boots.’


`This old man’ and `I’m a little Teapot' have become ancient numbers. I have given up trying to count the stars. My dolls have become senile and weak. One of Sony’s legs has been amputated, Lucy is bedridden and Willie, probably resting in peace...
... Gone are those days. Gone is my childhood. :(