I Resign

There was a time when kids were kids and dogs were dogs and they happily adjusted to each other as the best of playmates! Children of the locality were not only familiar with other kids but  were also acquainted with some 'uncles' and 'aunties' of the area, those busybodies that kept a discreet eye on everything around them, including the mischievous kids. Mischief was restricted to unauthorized garden raids, breaking a few windowpanes during play, mimicking the walk and talks of senior etc. It was just harmless fun with no rancour or malice.  For the sake of convenience the children would rechristen these adults and their complicated names were shortened to make them synonymous them with their hobbies and habits.

Rose aunty was seen pruning her roses most of the day till her pretty cheeks turned the clolour of the blooms she was tending. China uncle was very much an Indian but enjoyed munching the fistful of chana he picked up on his daily walk from Balu at the entrance of the park. Wendy woo had earned her pretty name by exclaiming 'woo' on hearing any gossip she called news! Retired Major General D'Sa was the 'soldier' while old Dom Rosario was nicknamed the 'major' in honour of his lush curved moustache. And so it went on........life was simple, every child was looked upon as a baby of the community, all elders keeping constant vigil on its antics in case it needed protection which really meant 'rescuing' from some predicament or the other! Life was simple for the guarded as well as the guardians.

For adults life was not at all demanding because it fell into a neat groove and would not digress. A meal was the complete family gathered around the table partaking of food and each other's lives warmly with truth and honesty. Kids being normal were predictable without causing their parents any undue anxiety or anguish except when the cold choked the cavity or a scrap grazed the knee. Hitting or kicking a ball around in the open air was called 'a game'. Games that needed adult vigilance at the computer were unheard of. Money meant the jingling coins in the piggy bank carefully hidden in the bottom drawer of the wardrobe. It was not a tool of appeasement, blackmail or easing one's conscience.  Mobile was moving around without staring vacantly at the cell used to effectively shut out the world and one's relationships with it. Communication did not need a course in ......well, communications because young people spoke English or any other Mother Tongue, not riddles and codes beyond the grasp of their guardians. Mothers could take a look at the watch and time the arrival of their kids for the purpose of welcoming them with a warm smile and a glass of milk with home-baked cookies ..... Our lives were coloured with distinct beautiful shades that blended into contentment, peace, joy and harmony. Water was crystal and the sky was like Mother Mary's mantle with fluffy white clouds sailing majestically around it. Gold and silver was found in the sands on shores where kids built a castle or two with as much planning and concentration as they use nowadays for that clandestine rendezvous.

So when I caught this poem on the NET, It hit the truth button and I just could not shirk it off me. The elation I felt must be shared with you, my esteemed readers as a gesture of my gratitude to you for expressing your appreciation of this column time and again.  Written by an unknown genius, with humour between the lines that could lighten that burden we call parenting...

I Resign-  by Unknown
I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult.
I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8-year-old again.

I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a four star restaurant.
I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make ripples with rocks.
I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them.
I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer day.
I want to return to a time when life was simple.
When all you knew were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care.
All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset.

I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good.
I want to believe that anything is possible.
I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again.
I want to live simple again.
I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and loss of loved ones.

I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow.

So...here's my cheque book and my car keys, my credit cards and all my responsibility.

I am officially resigning from adulthood. And if you want to discuss this further, you'll have to catch me first, 'cause, "Tag! You're it."

-by Vera Alvares