Plucking The Chord – A Biography
Spending my childhood in the 80s and 90s was a dream of that era. Healthy lifestyle, outdoor activities, gaining knowledge from available reading material and then limited screen time was an activity. Books and friends brought us together in to the world of adventure, philately, general knowledge and various chores done by our own two hands. My sister and I would design our own doll houses on a large handkerchief with the available things at home. Or we would take out small picnic baskets in the garden and sip juices or nibble biscuits like dainty ladies.
Our world was centered around our own imagination and story books would take us to fantasy lands, meeting fairies, magic potions or simply putting ourselves in the detective world. Weekends were spent in nearby parks playing on swings and slides to stretch out our strained muscles. Even school time was fun where teachers made sure we were into other hobbies and activities other than books. The golden era of the early 80s and 90s was a memorable time which has been treasured by all and sundry. No worries or pain of what would befall tomorrow. It was an absolutely carefree time.
Plucking The Chord – The Grains Of Sand
The grains of sand slowly sifted by and we crept into the millennium. Things took a turn and the generation of this time saw new technologies and trends; every new discovery merely a click away. We, of the previous decade, started adapting our life styles accordingly as we had to remain abreast with the changing ways.
Paper books, games, celebrations, television activities and you name it, got limited to a tiny screen. Libraries and book stores started giving deserted looks. Close friends would be together, but would converse in different languages. Slowly and gradually screen time became an addiction and though people and families were united but they would be drifted apart.
Most of these are rampant these days and like every other house hold I also experienced such situations with my children. As my other children grew up in the nineties, they experienced lot of healthy activities and somehow got connected with my good days. But of course, they also got hang of contemporary world.
My difficult time came when my youngest son was born and as he is still a primary grade student, his likes and dislikes are quite different. I may somehow or the other place myself in his shoes but he might or might not fit in to mine. For example if I ask him to watch, may be a children’s movie which would have fascinated me, it might be a source of boredom to him.
Books Are The Best Friends
My collection of books has brought a lot of knowledge for me, but to my youngest its simply a number of pages bounded together. I have to behave like a primary child looking for his interests so to keep him away from screen as much as possible. Yes, screen time cannot be eliminated as it has become part and parcel of every day doing, but it can be limited in some way or the other.
If I am successful in my goal, I may be able to show him how my hay day time was. I might be able to bring hop scotch, philately and various hobbies into his world. I will have to grow up in his era trying my best to imprint my days of faded photographs, ancestors and time. He might one day understand my thoughts would one day etch an image somewhere in the folds of his mind.
