Through my office window, I see that it is raining in the evening, which reminds me of my lost childhood spent building paper boats. Unlike today when we look for ways to avoid rain, as children, we have enjoyed rain dancing. Two decades ago, childhood was filled with a lot of treasures that we actually miss today.
“Color color, which color do you choose?” - The only thing we used for the craft was paper, we've made boats, rockets, games, etc.
“Name, place animal, thing” - A game that allowed us to identify as many names, places, animals, and things as possible based on the same letter. As part of our game, we also had to solve puzzles that improved our verbal skills.
“Am I right?” - The blindfolded player had to carefully move from one partition to the next, allowing children to choose how far apart to place legs on the ground.
We learned how to balance our bodies when we ran with a gunny bag on or played with a single foot. Children today do not know what it is like to build houses in the sand, play with marbles, run with bike tires, climb trees, and explore our world as we did.
We played with too many cousins all day long because joint families are so enjoyable. We waited for summer vacations so that we could visit grannies' place during the whole time. Even as adults, we have lost a lot of treasures, not just as children. In our village, fairs were a time and place for gatherings, but now the fun of fairs has been lost. A pollution-free environment, fresh water, and air, as well as healthy foods, have been lost to us. We have replaced a lot of fun in our lives with the Internet. Whether it is shopping or entertainment, we have gone online. Don't we miss out on the fun of bargaining? Don't we love to whistle and dance at the local theatre?
We have lost the fun of getting together and gossiping. Getting together to cook and eat is no longer enjoyable. Our desire for festivities and functions at home has diminished. Possessing things has become less pleasurable due to easy access to materialistic comforts. The construction of one house took a lifetime for our forefathers. To them, it was the greatest accomplishment they had ever made. Does it really make sense to buy a flat when we are 30 years old and pay EMI our whole life?
Our family members awaited an event for us to enjoy new clothes and tasty treats. The instant gratification of today's life never makes wearing clothes happier or eating sweets more enjoyable. All these forgotten treasures create today's psychosomatic diseases. In choosing the fast-moving life over lost treasure, we chose depression and addiction. Suicides and homicides are also a result of the high rates of depression and anxiety.
Even today, we aren't willing to return to those treasures we never valued when they were in hand. It is high time we return to our roots and live a happier life. Let's celebrate together the treasure.