Simpler Times

Well yes I have been thinking and talking about my childhood a lot. No wonder anything I can write about with complete ease these days is about those times.

Every generation complains that times were better when they were young and they weren’t as mollycoddled as the kids of today. I rant too, from time to time. More out of sheer wonder than any perverse desrire to mock. Our parents/teachers/relatives never bothered too much about what we were doing. Even when we got into a mishap, it wasn’t the end of the end of the world. Every generation says this and I do too, especially looking at the stress parents of my age go through these days where their kids are concerned. Nothing wrong about it of course, times are tougher and every precaution needs to be taken (cue sheer wonder again).

But I look at the fairly bizarre things I did and the reaction of most folks around and I end up cracking up. Let me give you two examples.

Ended up drinking a whole bottle of Dettol antiseptic once. Don’t even remember whether it was a bottle or it was a few sips. By the reaction of my grand mom it could have been a whole case. Apparently she called my Dad for advice and he asked her not to worry, the worst that could happen was a bad stomach ache (yeah my dad had and still has a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, that made him the medical expert in our house)!

Running around in class one day, trying to high jump over a desk (I was under 5 ft and the desks around 200 ft and the fact that I thought I could vault a desk was bizarre in itself), tripped, hit my head and promptly passed out. What would happen now over something like this? Emergency room, panicked teachers, students screaming? I woke up 10 mins later; I had been unceremoniously dumped in the last row of the class room. My teacher asks me as to how I was? Whether I was ok? Being from a family that never let me bunk school, I seized the day and said I want to go home NOW. Had to wait 2 more hours so that my cousin could come and pick me up though!

What does this prove? Nothing!!!! Like I said these were probably simpler times when we were assumed to be hardier and it was expected that we would get into trouble and no amount of panicking is going to change that. Don't think it was because of lack of caring but in the pre internet/cable tv days there were no medical dramas, nor were there forwards on what happened to the friend of a neighbours 6th cousin thrice removed. Am guessing that probably they thought they had gone through worse in their day.

But my folks used to panic when I wasn’t around though. When I was late from school or stayed over at a friends place for too long the panic would start. In that way all generations are the same I guess, only the levels of panic and distress would differ. Of course counter argument is that kids these days are more into “organized activities” as opposed to being let to their own devices I guess, but that’s another rant.