A month ago, I received an email. This is the content of it: “I am looking for my playmate Ravi, who grew up playing with me in Idukki. If you are that Ravi, please contact me on this phone number”, Sunny said affectionately. I was stunned for a moment. I was that Ravi. My mind suddenly went back 40 years. To the time when I was hoop rolling bicycle tires with sticks on the streets of Idukki wearing cross-belt trousers.
What sweet memories of those days! Our telephonic
conversation left us both with an indescribable feeling. I think it’s what we
call nostalgia...!!! I remember that the hoop would climb any hill or step, and
would rest under my bed with me when I slept...
It brought back so many childhood moments that I
couldn’t help but look up some of my most cherished memories. I'm sure you'll
fall into a similar nostalgia after seeing these pictures...Enjoy!!!
There was a time when we didn’t get off our
bicycles. Even though we weren’t tall
enough to reach the pedals, showing off our acrobatic skills was still vital.
I’m sure you can still feel the scar of the wound on your leg after all these
years…
Do you remember these lemon/orange candies? Two
for five paise from Pangan's stall. And then there's the jaggery candy that
wouldn’t break when you bit into it.
When I saw these marbles, I grinned and rubbed
my knuckles. How many calluses did I give and receive playing with them over
the years? Can you still hear its sound in your ears?
Most of us are at an age where we would rub our
backs when we see this. There are very few games that require as many tactics
as well as physical skill and accuracy as this game. The thrill of which is
more or less lost with time, and most children today lack the speed and nimbleness
to dodge a bouncing ball while collecting stones.
Oh my potass
(firecracker)!!! How many of you
have I burst?! Using that plastic toy gun - for those of us whose parents would
indulge us - otherwise, with our hands and feet, and if patience ran out, in
the fire, too. Doesn't it sound like a pumpkin seed crackling when you put it
in the fire? I remember some of the troublemakers of our time had tried to bite
it off, too. And when they bit it, they heard something crack. Was it a tooth
or a cracker? I can't remember exactly....!!!
And
that firecracker commonly known as the “Snake tablet”. A seemingly impossible
trick with a snake that grew infinitely long when you burnt a small tablet.
Today, this tiny thing is enough to put you behind bars for environmental
pollution. That’s the amount of smoke it produced.
Buddy, can you forget the time you were beaten
for being late to class after being enraptured watching a snake charmer making
a snake move and dance to his music on the road...!!!
Or the time when you saw the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort for the first time while living in a village hundreds of kilometers away?! The time when you listened to patriotic songs without knowing what patriotism and devotion even were...!!!
And how much of a nuisance this machine used to
be?! A mistake of a single letter was enough to cost you the entire page.
This relic is a testament to the old ways of life. Of a time when correcting a single mistake was extremely difficult, so one paid close attention in order to avoid mistakes. So things would be done with extreme caution. And today, you can make as many mistakes and corrections as you want.
Friends, don't you also have old memories like this????
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