Old ties, new ties........

Last evening..
The sound of singing and happy laughter...
Stopped me in my tracks...
I peered out of the window......
It was that group of children...
Who live in the lane behind our house...
Having the time of their little lives...
Singing with gusto...
All of them....
Sitting on a verandah...

I love watching these little ones..
In the evenings..
And all day long on weekends..
The sound of gully cricket filters in...
From this lane gang...
The winners and the losers...
All shouting themselves hoarse..
I wonder if they have their rules????..

In my childhood..
Sometimes winners had to treat the losers....
To something...

If we were lucky...
An older person treated us..
Maybe even to Rita Icecream..
From the Icecream man....
At one anna per stick icecream...
Or 6 paise to the post-1975 born...
That spelt celebration!!!

Yesterday...
The gully cricketers had thrown away their old cricket bats and badminton racquets...
To sing songs....
Didn't sound like the usual filmy ones to me...
More like the ones we learnt in school....
And sang on school excursions...

And then they burst into peals of laughter......
Laughter that was carefree, unpretentious, genuine....
Not the self conscious kind...
Or the hearty but fake titters...
That one has to put up with...in our grown-up world...
So jarring to the soul...

It took me back to the days of old..
Those no-TV days...
The heyday of books...
When AIR and Radio Ceylon ruled!!!!..
And I mean..
Really ruled!!!!...

Then...
Children pretty much had to entertain themselves...and others...
Over long summer evenings....
When verandahs in old houses....now long demolished...served as a stage...
And the elders came to watch their children
And their friends from the neighbourhood...
Put up a show...

A little skit perhaps...
Some songs...
From the Sound of Music..or My Fair Lady...Or Mary Poppins..
Jokes...maybe...
Or a few tricks...

So exhilarating to hear the adults clap...
Almost as much fun as applying cheap red lipstick on the cheeks...
And spreading it out...to resemble a blush!!!

We entertained ourselves..by and large...successfully..
And so did the generations that went before us...

In the 1930s...
When my Father was a child....
He recalls....
There were no electric lights...
The lanterns were lit at dusk...
Then the inmates of the house came out to listen...
To Classical music and stories from the Epics...
Usually from the women...
Or even watched a cousin or sister show off her dancing!!
And every family had its favourite story teller...
Children did not have to troop into a bookstore to hear a good tale!!!!!


I miss....
That olde neighbourhood...
Where visiting each other was a done thing...
And everyone knew everyone else!!!!
Unlike today..

I remember...
My brother would play and hang out with the other boys his age..
Who lived on the street....
The Mandapam Road Gang...
I do not see that happening now...
There are no little groups of boys standing outside homes...
They can only be seen outside the portals of a coaching class or a tuition teacher's house!!!!
Even Winner's friends lived many streets away...

In Hyderabad..
My friends who lived down the road..
Would come and take me off on long walks...
Sometimes we wandered off into unexplored terrain...such places existed then...
Gathered wild flowers..
Bulrushes...or at least that is what we thought those were!!!!
In Banjara Hills...

Sometimes we went up a small hillock...
To a temple on top of it...
And sat on the steps...
And listened to the temple bells tinkle and clang...
Breaking the silence of the hills...

I had an old playmate from those days visit me...
A few weeks ago...
We still have..
No secrets...
No need to pretend or hide...
So refreshing in this day and age...
To let it all hang out...
And not be judged...discussed and branded immediately!!!!
I so enjoyed the visit....
I was beaming all day long!!!!!

The family...
And friends...often in the neighbourhood...
Sustained us and carried us on...

And everyone had time for children...
In my own childhood..
I remember the elders sitting around in the verandah...
Playing carrom...
Or a game of cards....
Letting us play a round or two...

A favourite Uncle would regale us...
Twisting his fingers this way and that ...
To make the shadow of a dog..or a bird..or some other being...on the wall..
Or made aeroplanes and ships...
From paper...
Or an aunt helped us build...
A House of Cards...
Or played word building games...
While my grandmother helped me plan my doll's wedding...
Chitra was her name...
A celluloid one which I treasured...

Now... a colleague tells me...
"I feel sorry for my friend's daughter...
She is so lonely...
Sometimes she calls me......
Her mother works late....
The mother feels she has provided all the basic comforts and that should do!!!!"
Others quickly rush in to tell her..
"You are being unfair to the Mother!!!! It is good for the girl to learn to cope!!!!"

I obviously inhabit a different world!!!!
And have followed a different code...
Have different expectations..
Especially from relationships!!!!!

Coming back to the children of the lane...
I wonder if they realise...
They have something special!!!
When children the world over are cooped up..
Inside apartments and houses...relegated to...
Watching TV, playing video games..
Or bonding with strangers in a virtual world..
These kids have the real thing!!!
They can still take pleasure in innocent pursuits..


If only more children would get this lucky!!!
I wish!!!!
Don't you???