1262-It was life without care

The broken doll-stains all over its face

Playing with tennis ball and breaking a vase

Stealing money from daddy’s pocket

Playing gully cricket without wickets

Hiding in a corner when mother is calling

Running zig-zag when sister is chasing

Playing hide-and-seek with friends

It is an enjoyment that never ends

NCC camps, visit to the zoo and picnic

School assembly, homework and acting sick

Going to the ancestral village by the steam train

Counting electric poles through the window pane

Reading the Illustrated Weekly and Phantom comics

Going to the circus and enjoying the tricks

Listening to Binaca geetmala and j aymala on the radio

Taking black and white photo at the studio

Bunking school and going to the cinemaWhen the power went off cursing the operator

Bell bottom pants that swept the street

Listening to Abba and Boney M — a real treat

Street corner meetings in the evening

Carrying tales of neighbourhood with zing

Kite flying with m anja string

Catching the running bus, paying half the fare

It sure was a life without a care!

(Philip Joshua, Open Page, The Hindu, 25:08:2013)

(The writer’s email: philip1957@gmail.com)

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