It is sometimes very rightly said that life is what is lived in the past; what you learn from your past sometimes changes the way you think in the present and how you will shape up in the future. Specifically, here; I get reminded of the song from "Jagjit Singh - Vo kagaz ki kashti" - the song signifies how we all grow up but the desire and the inner child in ourselves that is made to be a prisoner due to the continuous hectic strains from life, this results in us no longer being able to relish the life and enjoy it's "khushiyo ke pal" in even the smallest of the happiness, came the biggest of the joys, that was the magic of childhood.
Today, the theme of this blog post is in compliance with Kelloge's tagline "khushi ke pal" Kellogg's chocos ke saath, where I'm going to share THE MOST khushi ke pal from my childhood, which I relish to this very day; which have made me the person I am and shaped the inner me; allowing me to bring out the child in me by just thinking of those times. I may have grown up but thankfully those times haven't and they still are intact within me; allowing me to remember these khushi ke pal and cherish them .
The story goes like this; what's the one time of the year when we as kids were the happiest! THINK THINK...
YES! Summer vacation it is. The VERY time of the year when the stress of school was left packing bags and we were made to pack bags for the GREATEST LIFE LESSON - I along with my 3 elder brothers used to be so excited for the summer vacation to arrive because this would be the time when we'd go to our village in Bihar, Tamuria and meet our uncles and aunts and my beloved grandparents, who showered their selfless love on us.
All through the 11 months of coming back from my village; we'd be left talking about how we enjoyed THAT one month, the month of June. The next 11 months were spent talking about what we will do when we go to the village the next time and how we will spend the early mornings waking at 5:00 AM, having a huge glass of milk with my grandfather and then going to kalam (long fields with various trees - namely the ALL TIME FAVORITE "Mango Tree") and wait for my grandfather to look around the field, feed the cattle, sit down in the long fields and enjoy the sun shining early in the morning at 6:00 AM, the very timing at which we'd still be sleeping when we'd return to city.
It's a saying that it's the people around you that shape you and make you realize the true essence of life and this holds very true in my life. Children of today are deprived of the way people used to live in villages and how my grandfather for example would travel to his kheth (field where he used to grow different crops to earn his livelihood). My grandfather's walking speed was so fast that I along with my 3 elder brothers used to run behind him as he used to walk briskly to his fields - YEP, that was the MAGICAL POWER OF WALKING in the people of that generation, they need not need cars of bicycles to travel the distance of 5-10 KM at the very least. Even though walking, pardon me - RUNNING such kilometers was no easy task and we were left short of breath at the end of it; I still consider that period of life as the golden time, the very era that has showered so many "Khushiyon ke pal" in my life that if I were to name them all; this post would never end.
Any how; let me get to another side of the story now. I as a kid was often told stories by my grandfather about the power of the nature and how the god is very kind to provide us with the basic necessities of life and why we shall always be thankful to him, regardless of the challenges that may come in our way in our life time. This of course is the trend in every household; our elders teach us so many lessons of life with such relative ease that even though at the time it may make no sense all; we gradually begin to cherish the lessons that were instilled in us by our elders at the tender age of 5-15 years, where the major part of our personality shapes up.
I firmly believe that "khushiyon ke pal" are those which you spend with your family and hence, I'm sharing the journey of my childhood days where travelling to my village meant the world to me. The amount of knowledge I gained just by being there and looking around is impeccable. I remember that my grandfather had a buffalo which used to roam around our house and my grandfather used to take it to his fields, upon coming back - I always saw my grandfather first feeding the buffalo and only then asking for him to be provided with his breakfast.
I clearly remember that one day my grandfather delegated the responsibility of feeding the buffalo to my youngest uncle, who tried his level best to feed the angry buffalo but it wasn't to be. My youngest uncle told this to my grandfather, who upon hearing this himself went to the buffalo and just tapped it a few times; treating the buffalo with respect and admirable love - the sight was in itself providing so much to learn from. The buffalo was clearly respecting my grandfather and was no more showing any signs of aggression which proved that even though it may be perceived that animals may not understand our language but loyalty, love and respect are 3 words that make human beings and animals the greatest of the friends. It was moments such as this that gave me "khushiyon ke pal" - the sight of seeing a buffalo respecting my grandfather and eating food from his hand and seeing my grandfather treating the buffalo with so much love that even a animal as angry as buffalo was softened at heart by this love - If this isn't a khushiyon ke pal and a learning of life then what is, right! :)
I also remember the khushiyon ke pal of playing cricket with our village buddies in the huge fields - the length and width of the field was as if we're playing in a real cricket stadium. Further, to make it all the more realistic - we used to wear white tshirts and white pants to give ourselves the feeling of playing a test match. Leather ball and leather stroke bat were arranged for; but sadly being the youngest of 4 brothers - I was made to keep and told "tu chotta hai, chot lag jaayegi" - whenever the batsman missed the ball, I used to run in the huge fields and collect the ball and throw it back to my elder brothers. Jeez, the perks of being older and having a younger brother. :D
Anyhow, even this moment was a khushiyon ke pal moment for me because in spite of all the day running in the huge field, coming back home and relishing the aam juice (squeezed from fresh mangos) and having onion pakoras grabbed hot and crisp from railway station which was about 5 minutes from our home made the evenings even more relishing.
The value of having a joint family was realized when we used to go to the village and my father's elder 2 brothers and the younger brother used to selflessly devote themselves to ensure that everything was provided to us in well and proper time, even having to not ask for what we needed; we were provided with it even before we asked.
The greatness of life is the simplicity with which you can lead it; try not to over-complicate things and you'll be fine. My grandfather loved to drink milk in the morning and thinking about it now; if he was still with us - he would've definitely enjoyed his milk with Kelloggs Chocos and then subsequently; putting the hard yards in the field for him could have been ensured by this healthy breakfast.
The purpose of sharing all these above stories is simple; I believe that the time of childhood is the one where we truly develop and identify who we really are - this is the time when we find our inner self and develop the personality; the very time which is truly circumferential in determining how we shape up as a human being.
The stories I've shared are simple but the learning's from them are such that they cannot be taught but only experienced. The khushiyon ke pal of childhood may never come back but try bringing out the inner child of you and start looking around yourselves with the same simplicity as that of a child; with the same motivation to learn with which you looked around this world when you were a new born baby and adjusted to the whole new world around you - if we do successful do this; every moment will turn into a "khushi ka pal".
In the hope that the child inside us helps us rediscover this world, helping us learn more and more about this wonderful thing that we're blessed with called "life", in which every moment is a khushiyon ke pal ONLY if you're willing to live it the way it's meant to be.
When I do get married and have kids, these are the very experiences that I'd like for them to have. After all; we can relive our childhood through the world of our kids - reliving the "khushiyon ke pal" that we once cherished and have since been left with it's for-lasting marvelous recollections.
Today, the theme of this blog post is in compliance with Kelloge's tagline "khushi ke pal" Kellogg's chocos ke saath, where I'm going to share THE MOST khushi ke pal from my childhood, which I relish to this very day; which have made me the person I am and shaped the inner me; allowing me to bring out the child in me by just thinking of those times. I may have grown up but thankfully those times haven't and they still are intact within me; allowing me to remember these khushi ke pal and cherish them .
The story goes like this; what's the one time of the year when we as kids were the happiest! THINK THINK...
YES! Summer vacation it is. The VERY time of the year when the stress of school was left packing bags and we were made to pack bags for the GREATEST LIFE LESSON - I along with my 3 elder brothers used to be so excited for the summer vacation to arrive because this would be the time when we'd go to our village in Bihar, Tamuria and meet our uncles and aunts and my beloved grandparents, who showered their selfless love on us.
All through the 11 months of coming back from my village; we'd be left talking about how we enjoyed THAT one month, the month of June. The next 11 months were spent talking about what we will do when we go to the village the next time and how we will spend the early mornings waking at 5:00 AM, having a huge glass of milk with my grandfather and then going to kalam (long fields with various trees - namely the ALL TIME FAVORITE "Mango Tree") and wait for my grandfather to look around the field, feed the cattle, sit down in the long fields and enjoy the sun shining early in the morning at 6:00 AM, the very timing at which we'd still be sleeping when we'd return to city.
It's a saying that it's the people around you that shape you and make you realize the true essence of life and this holds very true in my life. Children of today are deprived of the way people used to live in villages and how my grandfather for example would travel to his kheth (field where he used to grow different crops to earn his livelihood). My grandfather's walking speed was so fast that I along with my 3 elder brothers used to run behind him as he used to walk briskly to his fields - YEP, that was the MAGICAL POWER OF WALKING in the people of that generation, they need not need cars of bicycles to travel the distance of 5-10 KM at the very least. Even though walking, pardon me - RUNNING such kilometers was no easy task and we were left short of breath at the end of it; I still consider that period of life as the golden time, the very era that has showered so many "Khushiyon ke pal" in my life that if I were to name them all; this post would never end.
Any how; let me get to another side of the story now. I as a kid was often told stories by my grandfather about the power of the nature and how the god is very kind to provide us with the basic necessities of life and why we shall always be thankful to him, regardless of the challenges that may come in our way in our life time. This of course is the trend in every household; our elders teach us so many lessons of life with such relative ease that even though at the time it may make no sense all; we gradually begin to cherish the lessons that were instilled in us by our elders at the tender age of 5-15 years, where the major part of our personality shapes up.
I firmly believe that "khushiyon ke pal" are those which you spend with your family and hence, I'm sharing the journey of my childhood days where travelling to my village meant the world to me. The amount of knowledge I gained just by being there and looking around is impeccable. I remember that my grandfather had a buffalo which used to roam around our house and my grandfather used to take it to his fields, upon coming back - I always saw my grandfather first feeding the buffalo and only then asking for him to be provided with his breakfast.
I clearly remember that one day my grandfather delegated the responsibility of feeding the buffalo to my youngest uncle, who tried his level best to feed the angry buffalo but it wasn't to be. My youngest uncle told this to my grandfather, who upon hearing this himself went to the buffalo and just tapped it a few times; treating the buffalo with respect and admirable love - the sight was in itself providing so much to learn from. The buffalo was clearly respecting my grandfather and was no more showing any signs of aggression which proved that even though it may be perceived that animals may not understand our language but loyalty, love and respect are 3 words that make human beings and animals the greatest of the friends. It was moments such as this that gave me "khushiyon ke pal" - the sight of seeing a buffalo respecting my grandfather and eating food from his hand and seeing my grandfather treating the buffalo with so much love that even a animal as angry as buffalo was softened at heart by this love - If this isn't a khushiyon ke pal and a learning of life then what is, right! :)
I also remember the khushiyon ke pal of playing cricket with our village buddies in the huge fields - the length and width of the field was as if we're playing in a real cricket stadium. Further, to make it all the more realistic - we used to wear white tshirts and white pants to give ourselves the feeling of playing a test match. Leather ball and leather stroke bat were arranged for; but sadly being the youngest of 4 brothers - I was made to keep and told "tu chotta hai, chot lag jaayegi" - whenever the batsman missed the ball, I used to run in the huge fields and collect the ball and throw it back to my elder brothers. Jeez, the perks of being older and having a younger brother. :D
Anyhow, even this moment was a khushiyon ke pal moment for me because in spite of all the day running in the huge field, coming back home and relishing the aam juice (squeezed from fresh mangos) and having onion pakoras grabbed hot and crisp from railway station which was about 5 minutes from our home made the evenings even more relishing.
The value of having a joint family was realized when we used to go to the village and my father's elder 2 brothers and the younger brother used to selflessly devote themselves to ensure that everything was provided to us in well and proper time, even having to not ask for what we needed; we were provided with it even before we asked.
The greatness of life is the simplicity with which you can lead it; try not to over-complicate things and you'll be fine. My grandfather loved to drink milk in the morning and thinking about it now; if he was still with us - he would've definitely enjoyed his milk with Kelloggs Chocos and then subsequently; putting the hard yards in the field for him could have been ensured by this healthy breakfast.
The purpose of sharing all these above stories is simple; I believe that the time of childhood is the one where we truly develop and identify who we really are - this is the time when we find our inner self and develop the personality; the very time which is truly circumferential in determining how we shape up as a human being.
The stories I've shared are simple but the learning's from them are such that they cannot be taught but only experienced. The khushiyon ke pal of childhood may never come back but try bringing out the inner child of you and start looking around yourselves with the same simplicity as that of a child; with the same motivation to learn with which you looked around this world when you were a new born baby and adjusted to the whole new world around you - if we do successful do this; every moment will turn into a "khushi ka pal".
In the hope that the child inside us helps us rediscover this world, helping us learn more and more about this wonderful thing that we're blessed with called "life", in which every moment is a khushiyon ke pal ONLY if you're willing to live it the way it's meant to be.
When I do get married and have kids, these are the very experiences that I'd like for them to have. After all; we can relive our childhood through the world of our kids - reliving the "khushiyon ke pal" that we once cherished and have since been left with it's for-lasting marvelous recollections.
A very warm and touching post, Aditya. And now after reading this, I am missing my grandparents and the annual vacation visit to naani/daadi ghar. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteLet me too seek solace in ...Kaagaz ki kashti... :)
Here's what I wrote for the campaign!
http://solitaryreaperwrites.blogspot.in/2015/07/being-buddies-with-bachchas.html