I was thrilled to see a message saying that our institute shall be reopening and we would be able to work from campus. It reminded me of the good old school days. Every year there used to be a summer vacation and mostly 15th June used to be the school reopening day. It was a routine every year, yet every new year marked new enthusiasm at the time of reopening of the school.
These memories seemed to be lost for so many years. It was revisit to the memories. That time mostly people would be going at their grandparents place or would be doing some craft work, painting, embroidery, stitching, learning new things, cooking, playing indoor and outdoor games and so on. It did not matter whether you were a boy or girl, all were too preoccupied in their own world during the vacation.
Looking back, I was thinking gone are those days when we used to enjoy so much yet we were able to succeed in the exams, take challenges, keep ourselves updated and have so much of leisure that it was always the most exciting pleasure that we ever had. I never realized when that leisure passed away and we all got over burdened with our personal goals. This competitive world made us forget all the happiness we used to have in those days, or should I say has left us with no time. Today we find every one running after something - may it be success, money, promotion, higher academic qualifications, or any other worldly pleasure. Oh no, in these all materialistic things we really have left behind that happiness which we had in our childhood. Our childhood was not like today, the school going ones are 24 X 7 busy with some or other hobby class, tuition class, or classes for clearing competitive exams, television, mobile, internet and so on. What are we giving our children? Are we sitting with them at leisure and discussing about our family members, do we discuss our relatives with them, have we ever told them those stories which we were told by our grandparents? We madly started running behind the abstract satisfaction - which we never get. We never are satisfied because we have forgotten to be content. We keep on running and we have made our children, to some extent, do so. We want them to be successful everywhere. Or should I say we want them to be in the competition and not left behind - and that's why we forgot to tell them all those stories, or the fables or parables which taught us so many things. We just made them run, and even if we don't want to do it, the world is making them do it. They have started fearing that they would be left behind and so they are constantly on the look to do something different which would make them stand out from the others. And then we say we don't have time. We have lot of time, but instead of living in the present we have started living fearing the future and this constant fear makes us anxious disallowing us to sit at peace. This fear has taken all the happiness away from us.
This compulsory stay at home, I am sure, must have made all of you revisit the old days. I am sure you would agree with my views that the happiness which we got by playing in the mud, fighting and quarreling with our cousins, visiting our grandparents every vacation, learning from the fables and parables told to us, the love and attention which we got is missing for these children.
Just ponder and see if we could just be with our children and make their lives better in terms of quality time to be spent with them .
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