I want to be a Kid again. Do You?

Knock knock.....woof woof.....knock knock.....woof woof....... Finally Darien opened the door and his Dachshund rushed out and ran circles between my legs. Royden came out too, with a pack of playing cards. We had a taste for Cricket and WWF cards(WWE was previously known as WWF).


Royden shuffled the cards and distributed it amongst the three of us. None of us were older than 10 and we'd while away the entire day playing cards, with marbles and very little cricket.
Three months of Summer holidays seemed like a fast forwarded cartoon. There wasn't a prank we hadn't played on each other and on others. I'd stay back at their place for lunch and they'd come to my place to play marbles and watch cartoons and go home late after dinner.

Schools started and I'd go straight to their place after school, my pockets filled with marbles. My tie filled with marbles, with a knot on both ends. They'd both come out in a similar attire . We'd then head straight to my place and play marbles. The winner gets to take all the marbles lying on the floor at that time. I was quite a winner. I had collected a Milo Jar full of marbles within a couple of months.


Three years passed like three weeks and I had to change places. We were shifting our house to a place far away from where Darien and Royden were. I wished I didn't have to move. I wished they'd come along also. It wasn't meant to happen. And so, I had to leave them. I was broken. They were my BEST FRIENDS. The first I had made.

The new place we moved to was a little close to our flat which was under construction. We had to stay here till our flat would be constructed. I made friends with a girl Rohini. I had just learnt cycling and had a small cycle. She had one too. We would go on long rides, exploring the area we were in. We would often go by the lake side, riding along the bank. A few months this way and we shifted to our flat which was all ready to be occupied. Though Rohini was only 2 minutes away from my place, I rarely visited her place. Darien and Royden were still on my mind.
I asked appa to take me to Darien and Royden's place and he did a couple of times. He didn't later, because it wasn't easy distance.

The apartment in which I moved was big, had a lawn, a big ground and 32 flats. The apartment didn't have more than 3 occupants at the time we moved in. There were 3 kids and 2 of them were of my age. Eva was one, Aparna was another and Anand was too small for my age. He'd crawl and ask us to wait for him, which we never did :D.
We'd play a lot. There were a lot of planks, nails and plastic left behind after the construction. We often made piles of planks and pipes and we called it buildings. We played Hide and Seek and would sometimes just sit. Aparna and Anand's parents weren't all that "leave the kids" outside kinds. They'd call them home even before the sun would set beyond the horizon. That left me and Eva to play and we'd go to either of our places and play cards.

A few more months done and we had some more kids to play with. Santosh, Anand(another one), Monish, Anish, Chinna(Sriniketan) and Gablu were the new additions. Now, it was time to move on because they were more like the Boys group I was waiting for. We'd run around, play cricket, shuttle, hide and seek till as late as 11 PM sometimes. Me and Santosh would often play for long hours at Monish and Anish's place. They were brothers. It was great fun. Their parents were super friendly too :).

Few months later we had MORE kids and grown ups. I was inching towards my teens slowly. I probably was 10/11 years old that time. Sunil and Anil were the new additions. These guys looked like non-identical twins because they were almost the same age and of the same BMI(Body Mass Index). These lads were different. They'd catch hold of a hockey stick and run around the building in circles, one behind the other. They were fun to watch at.

This went on for a few years and when I was 14, Darien, Royden and Rohini were out of my thoughts. Aparna and Anand seldom came out because their parents wouldn't allow them out. They'd sit in their balcony and watch us play. They looked like convicts looking at the outer world, through the bars. Eva shifted her house to a different place and so did Monish and Anish. We still had a decent number of kids in the building.

Soon, Marampeeti(Dodgeball), Seven stones and Cricket took over as games we played most. For those who don't know, Dodgeball is a game where two teams hit each with other with a ball. You can pass the ball amongst your team-mates and aim at anyone from the opponent's side. The more the hits, more the points.
Seven Stones was similar. We'd get seven flat stones/pebbles and divide us into 2 teams. The teams would be positioned on either sides of the stones and a person would have to aim the piled stones with a ball, from a good distance. If he missed, the other team would get the same chance.
If someone would manage to strike the stones, they'd all run in various directions and the opposition would take the ball and try aiming at the team which dislodged the stones. The team which dislodged the stones would have to come back to the point where the stones were and re-pile them to win that round. All this while taking care they don't get hit by the ball.

Enter teenage and my kid bro started joining us with the games. So did Bharath(Santoh's brother). Focus shifted to football and cricket. It continued for some years. And then I had to go to hostel to complete my diploma. It was great fun as a kid.

Darien, Royden, Eva, Santosh, both the Anands and Aparna have all become a thing of the past with no communication. Aparna and her brother Anand are now in contact, thanks to Social Networking !! :P

Life's catching rather briskly and with tons of thoughts about career, relations and emotions flooding our minds. I never had to think about any of these as a kid. It was such a wonderful stage. Probably the best phase in my life. Nothing has ever come close to being as good as those days yet.

Aah! Those were the days... The days of Lore Galore!!

~~Peace

R.o.H.i.T....