Return to Innocence

When I was a kid my father decided my menu. Today I decide his. When I was young my granny stitched my clothes. Today it’s the posh boutique. As a kid, I would cry when my mother took me to the beautician to get me a hair cut. Today I fight with her to allow me to get one done.
What am I trying to do here by talking to you about these changes? I am trying to tell you that there was a time when getting hurt meant just a bruise on the knee, the only things broken were the toys. Today the meanings have changed, our definitions have changed, life has changed.
Have you ever taken out an hour and gone for a walk in the park full of young kids -playing. I do that every evening. (or at least did until I also got caught in the race to excel in the corporate world)
So the best part about that one hour of walking was that I got to listen and indulge in one hour of music, without any guilt of not studying or not helping my mother with the house-work. I used to wait for the clock to strike 6 every evening and then I would rush to the park. With earphones on, my playlist including everything from Linking Park to A R Rahman and I would relish that one hour.
As I used to walk, I would observe the little kids who were accompanied to the park either by their aayahs or grandparents. It was quite interesting to observe the little, young boys and girls play around, running after each other, laughing, crying, shouting, clapping all at the same time! As I did so day after day, little did I know that they would teach me so much and give me the most important learning of my life. The learning to return to innocence.
I used to watch them playing a variety of games from catch and catch to hide and seek, I would see them as they would run towards the swings, wave at their grandpa from there and the very next moment come back running. Boys would end up hitting each other, but the angst lasted for no more than 5 mins.
Don’t all of you remember your childhood days? How you took pride in showing your mother a 10/10 in maths test? Or an A in the drawing test? How Barbie dolls were your trophies and winning the cricket match the end of this world? Hasn’t it been ages you picked up a bat and hit a sixer? Haven’t it been ages when you dressed a doll with your own designed frocks? Half of you might even be thinking that ive gone mad asking you such silly questions.
But have you ever thought how today the pride is personified not by a 10/10 but by a cheque? How trophies have changed to commendations by our boss and getting into IIM is the end of the world.
Friends observe the eyes of a young child. it reflects purity, and innocence. Their gestures reflect spontaneity and genuity. Their smile radiates warmth and happiness. It’s a pleasure to watch them enjoy, and enjoy with no worries of future, no worries of being observed and no worries of trying to impress. dear friends, kids try to express and not impress.
This makes me wonder, where does the innocence go once we grow up? Why don’t we still wave at our grandpa when we leave for work? why is it all about working and impressing our boss? Why is it no more about genuity? why are we reminded of our friends only when we have some work from them? why do our eyes reflect only ambition? WHY???
Take a moment before you say –oh cmon akshita nothing like that, and think…we have justifications for everything—we work not for ourselves but for our family, we are ambitious so that we are able to make our parents dream come true, I hurt him because he hurt me..and so on and on and on.
But are we as innocent as we were when we were kids? Do our gestures suggest philanthropy? Do we still hope our contemporaries do better than us? Don’t we put money way before our health? Doesn’t enjoyment mean indulging in drinks rather than spending time with our kids? Isn’t our attendance at the office meetings more than at the kid’s stage performance?
Don’t answer me. Don’t answer anyone. Just make a decision. a decision to return to innocence.
Innocence that would act as a magnet force and attract positive people, innocence that would make people fall in love with you. innocence will make you happy, innocence will make you hardworking, innocence will make you sincere, innocence will make you simple. Innocence will make you look for happiness in the right things, innocence will make you give happiness to others.
All you have to do is to think life is beautiful. To keep hope alive. To find your friend in faith, to still find joy when theres no light, to thankgod, if you are struck in the traffic jam, to pick up your cricket bat every weekend, to dress up your daughter’s Barbie doll, to smile, to say I love you, to enjoy the first rain.
Let innocence be reflected in the way you talk, in the way you work. Give it a chance. When you will, you will see how people adore you and respect you. Be innocent, down to earth and simple. Let people judge you by attributes, and not appearance.
Why do we admire gandhiji? The answer to this itself justifies my plea here.today’s world will not change. It will still be a cat and mouse race in the corporate world, success will still be judged by money, but what will change is the fact that you ll be more happy, yur kids will be happier, your family will be happy!