The lost days.......

 Where did my childhood go?

It went to some forgotten place,

That is hidden in an infant’s face,

That’s all I know.

                                                                                      -         Marcus Natten

I know i am not 25 or something and i havent really "lost" my childhood but i am trying to imply something else over here. 

When we were small kids, like really small, it wasnt a crime holding a boy's hand. It wasnt a disgrace to walk or sit with your guy friends.
When we were small kids, we could talk to anyone and everyone endlessly. On any topic. At that time we didn't stop to think whether we were offending someone or not. All were our friends....no hatred....no enemies.....
When we were small kids, we had a lot of things to do.....which were actually fun. Our sole aim used to be to play. And not to worry about the approaching tests. We could concentrate on understanding. Hell, learning was actually fun!
When we were small kids, there was unity...there was love. We did not trample over our friends, over our classmates to earn more marks. There was no cut throat competition. We were all one big family.
When we were small kids, like really small, life was effortless. Friendships were effortless. And hence the bonds were stronger.

But as we grew up, life started to complicate itself.
                                         

 When did my childhood go?

Was it the time I realised that adults were not

All they seemed to be,

They talked of love and preached of love,

But did not act so lovingly,

Was that the day!

We started forming opinions, we started thinking. And that's where the effortlessness finished.

Now that we are all grown up (according to the society!), having a guy best friend is a big NO NO. Frankly, i do not see the point of separate girls/boys colleges and schools in today's "modern" world. 

Now that we are all grown up, we have to think 10000 times before we speak. Because for all we know, we might be offending our best friend's cousin's neighbour. And oh, won't that be a horrible thing to do? In a world like this, people do not consider feelings. They only relate to the spoken words. They won't consider why one said that or whether he really meant that or not. He said something about me which i consider disgraceful? Well, friendship over. Matter finish. Is that right?

Now that we have grown up, we need to mug up like a parrot. The experiment we do doesnt matter. What matters is whether we drew the margins properly or not. The concepts we have understood don't matter. What matters is whether we are able to remember them by heart and copy paste in the exam or not.

Now that we have grown up, we have dual natures. We see the world with a competitive eye. We think everyone means harm to us. We are taught that life is a race. If you do not crush others and run fast, you lose. And once you lose, there's nothing worthwhile in this world for you. Or is it?

Now that we have grown up, a simple smile costs a lot. We make friends according to our benefits. We form bonds, but do not strengthen them. We make promises, but we dont keep them. We claim to love, but we don't mean it.

So, is life better once we grow up? Who would like to freeze at 18 now? I wouldnt! I would rather be 10 forever. An age where life is so simple....where you just have to live......where you just have to love.......