No matter how much I achieve or establish….no matter what heights I reach……..I would still prefer being my papa’s little doll….nothing can be traded for those wonderful, carefree, joyous times spent with my parents n brothers….the pampering, the naughty pranks, the yummy toffees n candies, mid noon games, doll weddings, balloons, lots of colors n above all lots n lots of time!!!!!!!! Yeah, time is what we used to have in abundance while we were kids…playing away to glory…unaware and least bothered about the events unfolding all around the world….back then, life’s net was full of happy butterflies….. painting the wonder years of our lives with colorful hues …….
When I was in kindergarten, Papa used to take us (me n my big Bs) to the Sunday matinee movies---“Laurel-Hardy” & “Charlie Chaplin”….He was placed at Bombay High at that time….his work schedule was 15 days on shore and 15 days off shore….we used to look forward to the times when Papa wud come home……..he was my Santa Claus carrying a bag full of goodies whenever back from his trip…new toys n cute frocks with frills….dolls of my size…n many more lovely surprises…He wud tell us bed time stories which wud continue in parts for four to five nights….specially the “Sheikh Chilli Series” n the “sci-fi stories” were my favorite…Papa is a voracious reader n a wonderful narrator…..he inculcated reading habits in us right from our childhood….we had this subscription to the monthly children’s magazine called "Hilal" (which was in urdu) and Misha (which was a russian magazine for kids)…..While “Hilal” kept us rooted to our cultural background…..”Misha” introduced us to the world of astronauts n Russian folk tales……..We were regular visitors to book fairs, where Papa wud make sure that we bought enough stock until the next fair….I had Arabian Nights, Ukranian Folk Tales, Adventures of Dennis, Panchtantra Folk tales n many more….I still treasure them………In fact, all the Russian influence had instilled in me the love for spacecrafts n universe….and I wud dream of becoming an astronaut one day!!………
My love for dolls n teddy bears was not far behind……..I had many of them n had given funny names to all my soft toys….Fifi, tou-tou, tuk-tuk to name a few……..I also arranged a grand wedding for one of my "girl" dolls with my friend Naseem’s "boy" doll…..Mom had made special delicacies that day…..my elder brother obliged to be the Qazi for the "Nikah" ceremony….Mom had sown v cute li’l garara (the traditional bridal wear) for my doll….I gifted her a small cardboard house which I had prepared in my crafts class in school….I was very excited about the wedding n had invited all my friends for it……the sad part was that the doll never returned after marriage…..(Naseem u owe me this one ;-)…)
Well, I guess this post has grown out of proportion, so, more about my bachpan in the next one……..
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ur new post, watered my eyes i also do arrange marriages of my dolls and read books, u mentioned russian folk tales, which i have also read those were fantastic i still cherised memories of their stories....keep writing
ReplyDeleteHey sangeeta, same here.......while writing this post I felt so emotionally charged.....
ReplyDelete"bachpan ke din bhi kya din the, udte phirte titli banke", sach mein tune woh bachpan din yaad karva diye and have inspired me too to write about my Bachpan. Thank you. This is really "the best" post..
ReplyDeleteO' my dear sis, u do remember a lot, mashaallah!!! I really recalled a lot of 1derful childhood memories, while reading this post....lovely
ReplyDelete