Today, when I sit back and remember my childhood days a smile crosses over my countenance. It only feels like yesterday when as a little kid I went to school and returned home with wet pants. It was all play, fun and, of course, a bit of punishment too. I had the liberty of committing mistakes and escaping with a usual refrain “he’s just a child”.

Life was so simple and uncomplicated then. Everything was tailor-made and I just had to fit into it. I did what I wished to and was not hesitant even to fight to get it done. I was innocent and ignorant which I think was the best part of my childhood.

Now, all that has changed with the passage of time. I have grown ‘big’ and the world that I am living now is different from the one during my childhood. I no longer have my wishes fulfilled as they are buried deep under the wishes of my family, relatives and friends. It often seems that I am living for them rather than enjoying life in my own way.

In this fast-paced and competitive world, I have to cope with time and struggle hard to gear up for competition. Moreover, there are constant reminders such as education, career and future that in pursuing them I resemble a machine full of workload. I am burdened with so much of worldly duties that my inner feelings, desires and wishes are being suppressed. In fulfilling other people’s dreams and wishes, many of my own wishes are left to be fulfilled. I still haven’t enjoyed my life to the fullest. Instead of finding my inner self, my talents and creativity, I am lost in the maze of this world. It is not that I am complaining or trying to run away from my responsibilities but I just wish that life would be a bit simpler and happier like during my childhood days. At least, I had the liberty of doing what I wanted to do and was not lost in the complexities of this world.

When I see young kids walking down the road today, I stop to look at them and my childhood memories come alive. I want to go back to my childhood and to the time spent with joy and happiness. It would give me not only my childhood but also the much-needed peace, which prevailed in the country then but is lost somewhere in the horizon today.