In the rat race of life, the grind of adult life can make us
long for childhood again -- a time when there were no worries of the past,
present or future. It is a yearning for those bygone days when you see
something or a place that holds lots of fond memories. .Though city bred , I
always had and still have the heart with fond memories of my beautiful village
and everything about it.
In those memories one that I hold close to my heart is the
peacock feather and the crab’s eye. Both have been a favorite always for me. It
was the belief of a child those days that if you keep a peacock feather in
between your book, it will double. I think of that even today when I see a
peacock feather anywhere. It was a belief and wishful thinking that made me check the book often to see if it had doubled.
The crab’s eye was a seed that attracted me where ever I
found it. In my ancestral house this creeper was found on the trees and I would
always go picking them up, which I still do when I see them. Though it is a
rare thing in cities, it is still found in rural areas. I still feel a child like joy when I see
them. It is believed that taking a handful of crab’s eye makes you mischievous.
My childhood memories, both these had great significance. I
used to collect them both and am sure, every child really loved it. Such
precious things are really missing these days. Childhood memories are those
little joys that are pleasing ; they are always associated with some sort of
innocent plays and collecting simple things. It may be just a piece of marble,
broken bangles or even crabs eye. I
doubt if a child of modern times collected such items. Though they look little,
they are priceless to those kids belonging to a few decades back.
