"ᵂᵒʳᵈˢ ᵃⁿᵈ ᵖⁱᶜˢ ᵃʳᵉ ᵐⁱⁿᵉ, ᵘⁿˡᵉˢˢ ᴵ ˢʰᵒᵘᵗᵒᵘᵗ ʷʰᵉʳᵉ ᵗʰᵉʸ ᶜᵃᵐᵉ ᶠʳᵒᵐ!"
Look at this ‘chillar party’, and can you recall your childhood?
So, one fine evening, I'm sitting in the stadium gallery and looking at the ground. Hundreds of boys playing in groups, if I calculate the age level, maximum are till the teenage. I know all these are school kids, college ones are low, and University ones are missing.
Why is it like that?
With time and age, we lose the energy and mindset to be on those grounds and run aimlessly. I bet 80% of the kids or teenagers playing on the field don’t give a f*** about life. To be honest, what do they understand about life? What's life to them?
By the time they understand, they lose the ability to play here. No one is restricted in reality, but somehow things get changed.
So, suddenly one day, I was there, after years, I felt like I'm enjoying the scenario. With my eyes stuck on this group, I was following the activity, their voices as they played. I can easily recall these memories. Like, after lunch, our parents would try to make us fall asleep. Instead, we would sneak out while they are sleeping. We play till sunset. Those were the saddening moments that the day is over. Now go back and do the homeworks, kinda feeling.
Class eight was the last time I was active in playing. Cricket and football were the main sports that we played. Right here on this ground, this one is huge; groups like this can accumulate 20/30 groups easily. We, the kids from the surrounding areas will meet here, often ending up in healthy clashes as well.
To be honest, this one made me nostalgic. I was having goosebumps thinking of those golden days that have passed away and can't be returned no matter what we do. That's how life goes on, actually. Maybe this ground holds the memories till my teenage years; there are more places that hold my different phases of life. We all have such areas that hold the golden moments. And when, after years, we go back to those places, things start to come alive.
So yeah, this one was like the place to go back to my childhood. All was left to jump in on the ground and start playing with them. Also, the fact is, I would do much worse than them, as I forgot to play years ago.