Childhood - Bitter Sweet

Here goes...my first tag !!! On something that I've always wanted to write, but always shied away from...childhood. I was tagged by the smart, confident and eternally optimistic HR executive - bombaydosti

Rules :
1. Write 8-10 things about childhood that you miss.
2. Write 8-10 things that you disliked about childhood.
3. Tag a few people.

"childhood is 1-12 years " - Silverine, proprietor. Well, I shall extend it to 18, 'cos till I entered college, I never felt like I was an adult.

If ever I want to go back to childhood, it's cos:

1. I was the youngest and the most pampered in the family - from my grandmother to my sister, who is elder to me jus by two years but yet pampered me silly by giving way to all my wishes. As I grew up, roles got reversed - today I am expected to pamper new entrants in my life -- not something I enjoy.

2. Pocket money - Used to get jus 20 bucks from my grandma, but it was quite a lot then. And more than the money, it was the feeling of getting it from her...She stopped the ritual when I got a job, but the pay cheque at the end of the month can't replace the feeling of crisp pink coloured notes in my hand.

3. Birthday celebrations - Used to be restricted to just my family - the 5 of us - parents, sister and grandmother. I used to feel sad that b'day was during summer hols - so I never got a chance to celebrate it with friends. But my family more than made it up by treating me like a princess on that day - new clothes and a sumptuous meal which would be eaten together by me and my sister, however I had the privilege of tasting everything first as I was the birthday gal !!!

4. 'Being there' - My family was quite a close knit one and there was a confidence that anything I do I could confide in them and they will be there for me...so much so that everyday, I used to report my most mischievous acts first!!! But today, I have donned a different profile - that of a hi-flying career woman living alone in a different city, married and capable of taking care of not only myself but an entire family ..... Well, my family thinks 'being there' is no longer necessary ....only I know how wrong they are !!!

5. 'Vishu' and 'Pooja' - Two festivals which I jus loved - former 'cos I get money from everyone making me the richest lady in the house (well, that was the feeling I got!!!) and the latter 'cos there were 3 full days when even touching a book was a total 'no-no'...what more do you need?

6. Sister's Cooking Experiments - She used to try out new recipes in the kitchen and I was the only one who got to eat them. Most of the time, they used to be really yummy, and the odd times when she messed up, I was still supposed to eat up the whole thing and say "mmm greaaaat"...and then both of us will roll around giggling.....typical girl stuff !!!

7. Train Trips - Since none of my cousins lived in my city, every vacation we used to travel to spend time with them. Mom would plan the trip in such a way that we used to take the 5.00 PM train the day I finished my exams and keep the journey a well guarded secret...Exams got over by 3.30 PM and the excitement of the next one and half hours is mind blowing !!! Haven't travelled in a train in a loong loong time....

8. Friends - Childhood friends are the best !!! I studied in a girls' school till tenth...Friendships there were nothing great as most of the kids were overburdened by the expectations of middle class parents and looked at me with envy 'cos I was quite an allrounder then...But then I spent my plus two in an amazing place where I made some really really good friends....they are still my best buddies ...even after almost 10 years...If ever I want to re-live any part of my life...it's those two years....the last phase of my childhood...

As the saying goes, every proverbial coin has two sides..and so here's why I don't want to hop onto the time machine....

1. Hand me downs - Well, being the youngest also meant that I used to be at the receiving end of all old clothes, old books and so on....Not that I never had anything new...I had new ones too...But I was expected to use the old ones as well....Though today it makes sense, when I was a child I used to hate it...

2. Mom's scoldings - Like any child, was scared...and I was the kind who always yearned for approval...so this was even more painful...as years passed my mom realised this, I guess...the scoldings stopped....or maybe I outgrew my mischievous nature :P

3. Teachers who left - Well, in chidlhood, I always used to have a favorite teacher in every class among the dozen or so who handle the various subjects...and as luck would have it, every year as soon as the year was over my favorite teacher used to leave the school....today, it seems quite silly on my part not to realise that they would have left for greener pastures like a better job or marriage...but back then, when I returned to school after summer hols and never found the teacher around I used to feel that she somehow cheated me...Well, I kept up my optimism till around class 9....after which I don't remember having a fav teacher....

4. Ugly Duckling - My sister was more appealing to the senses for all my 'white' complexioned relatives... her being a quiet child vis-a-vis my sharp tongue didn't aid matters either :) ...so I was always treated as an ugly duckling by all relatives...Thanks to my mom's repeated reassurances that even Lord Krishna was dark my confidence wasn't shattered but I really disliked the way my relatives treated me...

Altogether, I had a wonderful childhood, so the negatives are far less...so maybe I'll actually hop on to that time machine when it arrives !!!!

Well, now the last bit...passing it on....Here lies the problem...People whom I want to take up this tag...well, I don't even know whether they see my blog nor have I ever commented on their blogs (or maybe rarely), so leaving a comment there saying 'you r tagged' will be akin to an anonymous phone call in the middle of the night :)

So whoever reads this post, please consider yourselves tagged...