Morning hues

                        The morning sky in McLeodganj- A view from our hotel balcony 

The forgotten real moments

If I dive deep into time for the “real” experiences I have had, there are countless of them from my childhood which are quite fresh and crystal clear in my mind. And it was not only my parents but my school as well, to contribute to the noble cause.

Unlike the modern times where kids are glued to computers & video games, we were forced to go outdoors. Our exposure to computer/TV/indoor games was limited to a maximum time of an hour. At school, P.T classes were given more weight-age than computer. I still remember my summer vacations projects (popularly known as holiday homework) wherein the major tasks were to collect seasonal twigs or leaves and stick the dried ones on a scrap book. I am not surprised to see my young cousins surfing the images on internet and finish the holiday homework instantly.  However, they would never get the feel of visiting natural places and seeing the seasonal/rare twigs for real. They would probably never know how is it to climb trees or to run in open farms.  Surely, they are missing the real experience which will be rare times ahead.

I hail from the beautiful town of Dehradun where natural beauty and surroundings were abundant. My family never had to book holiday packages for exotic locations for picnics. I have been brought up amidst real things; to name a few are the Sulphur Water spring of Sahastradhara, the snow clad hills of Mussorie, the green Eucalyptus belt of Dehradun, heavy rainfall of Autumns and the list goes on. Water parks were unheard of, so were play houses for kids. I have enjoyed the real moments which today’s generation kids are not far from.

Talking about “real” things, food cannot be left behind. Tinned/packed foods were a strict No- No! The practice of squeezing out Sweet Lime juice manually from the small portable juicer was a common sight during summer afternoons. This was when we kids refused to chew the lime pieces.

My siblings and I grew up in the lap of nature surrounded by “real” luxuries. Be it the morning walks in parks or seeing the sunrise/sunset every day, we have had our best share during childhood. Changing life styles and modern technology brings everything close to you in a click of a mouse. But how would a child of today’s generation know what does a vegetable or fruit market look like? Accompanying grandparents to the market and seeing them pick out the best fruits would seem strange to a kid today who has either has never been any where else but air conditioned supermarkets or has ordered groceries over the phone!

Vegetable market visit with kids

Even writing letters have lost their charm in the world of emails/sms. Sending festive greeting cards and letters to distant relatives were the most exciting part of “real” growing up experience. Our school syllabus covered letter writing those days. I wonder whether they have switched to “Sms/ Mail writing” now? From bed time stories of grandma to painting sceneries on canvas while looking at them, the real moments are inseparable from my memories. Sadly, technology and virtual world has overshadowed those experiences these days.

Written for Indibogger Kissan Real Moments.

Second image source- www.outlookindia.com