Kaleidoscope Of Childhood

Reminiscing back to the careless childhood days the happiest and fun times always were catching up with cousins at grandparents' home. So were the silent escaped to mango orchards from the crazy changing world of grown-ups. Sometimes the house resonated with laughter and other times complete silence. Occasional fights and makeup indubitably amused all. The elder cousins were the compas and the younger ones followed like train bogies.

One sunny morning after it had rained continuously for three days. A group of seven cousins set out for a small picnic in the adjacent mango orchard. They had with them home-cooked food packed in tiffin boxes, water bottles, umbrellas, and mats. They reached the spot and were taken aback by the sight. It was hard to find a proper place to sit, the ground was muddy as well as filled with leaves and broken twigs. Insects crawled plus swarmed around. The eldest commanded the youngest one to sweep and clean the place. The youngest felt humiliated and started to cry. Those who supported him were asked to do the job. A fight started with pulling and pushing and grew bigger. Eventually all returned with gloomy faces and hungry stomachs. The grown-ups ignored them and it seemed no one cared for them. The little ones on receiving no response to their grievances started eating from their respective tiffin boxes. The elder cousins took a pledge never ever to take them anywhere and went to the terrace to have their packed food. Everyone was angry at the same time lonely. At lunchtime, all gathered to have their food, but this time the elder cousins showed maturity and offered younger ones their favorite food and helped the grown-ups in cleaning the dining area and doing dishes. The younger cousins followed by picking up sun-dried lentils from a terrace and putting them in the kitchen. By evening the morning events were forgotten and the cousins enjoyed a match of football followed by stories from grandparents under the stars in the courtyard.