Treasured Bucket Of Experiences

The colour of Olives will go perfect for the curtains.So vibrant !; Said Diya while joining her cousins who all were assisting in giving a makeover to Kayaan’s Room.The colour of the wall was settled with pale earthy soil colour. Cushions and sheet were yet to be decided; so were kept as pending.

Sneha and Rakesh were amused to find how Kayaan was helped by his cousins Navya; Reyansh and Diya.

“The bonding of these kids amuses and surprises everyone, who meets them “. Such scenes are not a common sight in Indian household these days, said Sneha.

Yeah! said Rakesh and an idea strucked his mind to which Sneha agreed with no further conversation. They discussed their plan with kids at dinner table.

 Kids at home, could not understand the adhoc visit to their grandparent’s cousins at their residence in the lap of Himalayas. In fact; they were the only couple who were alive from their respective generation in the family.Although they all had some faded memories of their home at Kausani yet the unplanned visit to hills remained a mystery to them. Kids were told that Holi will be celebrated at Joshi's residence; Kausani.

Kids seemed excited in the morning and surprised their grandparents with their sudden arrival. Their chats, questions, discussion, engagements added new fervour in the monotonous life of the old couple.

The same evening, Kids handed over a paper to Rakesh that contained a list of items that were needed to celebrate the festival of colours.Rakesh smiled and looked at his Uncle as he had a different plan for them.

 All the children were thrilled to learn about their visit to nearby Forest area, the following morning.Mrs Joshi told them to collect and bring back their buckets filled with different things, that was mentioned in the slip of each bucket.

All kids choose to walk down to the Forest area rather than to commute by jeep. They collected different things that captivated them all.

Kids returned late in the evening ,excited but confused as they didn’t know the way ahead. Mrs Joshi was amused to see their buckets filled with flowers, vegetables, herb or leaves of their favourite colours.

 Are we going to make a scrap book! asked surprised Diya.

 Oh! We have done it numerous times at school, said Reyansh.

 Of course not Kidos, said Mrs Joshi who was still looking into each child’s bucket that ranged from leaves to vegatables to petals and to flowers.

 We're going to spend our precious thing now ,said Mr. Joshi as little Navya finds her seat in his lap.

Spend , What and how! Kids were confused.

 I left my Piggy Bank in my Room.So, I can’t spend anything ,said little Navya in a way that filled the room with great laughter.

 No, not really. We will spend something that the all have with us: our time; not in buying things for festival but preparing it ourselves. The best things in life are not things but our experiences.

 Don’t you enjoy listening to your parents and grandparents childhood stories?

Buying things will make us happy for a while but our experiences are our treasured moments for all time to come.

What will you share later when you will grow up? Sharing our experiences and stories allows us to bond with others in a deep and meaningful way. So, we will spend our day in gaining on experiences to capture different moments that we shall keep safe in the album called life.

 Kids did not seem to understand it much but seeing Nandu Kaka placing different things on side tables, excited them all. They spent the whole evening in learning and preparing colors for holi.They thanked Nandu kaka and their grandparents for helping them doing different things in the right manner.

 Their excitement for the festival was massive as they had prepared colours on their own.

 They were surprised to learn that the colours could be made from natural sources like Turmeric, Beetroot, Neem, Palash (Tesu) etc.

The day was celebrated as a day of spreading happiness and love as the playful pouring and throwing of colour powders made from these natural sources had a healing effect on everyone.

 We will never forget this day as we have made this day so special for each one of us , said Reyansh and was joined in chorus by other kids.

Perhaps, they were now getting to understand that Experiences provide better memories.

Rakesh, Sneha and the old couple was pleased to see children having fun. This was my treasured moment from my bucket of experiences that I have shared and passed on to my kids, shared Rakesh with everyone.

 And, We will keep passing our moments as they have a story to tell , helping our children in becoming a cheerful and happy person, said Sneha and Rakesh agreed to it with no further conversation.