Keeping the inner child alive

Give me a room full of toys, a packet of “Chatmola”, some “imli” candy and a nursery rhyme and I can happily forget that I am in my thirties. Don’t believe me? Ask my brother’s twins! On my recent trip to Pathankot, I found myself playing “Aa Meena Meena Tara”, a game I grew up playing with my older brother, singing “Wheels on the Bus” along with “Baby Shark” and dancing to “Aaha Tamatar Bade Mazedaar” with them. And I wasn’t doing it just to entertain the children. I was having the time of my life!

My mother added to the excitement by bringing out a little box of childhood memories containing my first Barbie, gifted on my first birthday, another revolving dancing Barbie, a kitchen set, a purple vanity and my hot-pink piggy bank. I was thrilled to see them again, perhaps just as much as the twins were to discover them. They also found their father’s old soft toys and a little toy dog they could carry around. Watching the next generation play with toys that once belonged to us was quite something.

Then came the childhood treats “Aam Pachak”, “Chatmola”, “imli” and Boomer. For a moment, it felt like we had travelled back in time. Only this time, I was the “bua” introducing the little ones to the things that made our childhood fun. And honestly, I was enjoying every bit of it.

It got me thinking. When did we decide that growing up meant giving up all this fun?

As children, happiness came in the simplest packages. We didn’t need a reason to dance, an occasion to dress up or anyone’s approval to be silly. Then came school, college, work and responsibilities. Somewhere along the way, we began putting age limits on our happiness. We were expected to behave our age, dress our age and stop getting excited over things supposedly meant for children. But who made these rules?

I am in my thirties and I have never been particularly good at following someone else’s timeline. I still dance in front of the mirror, just as I did as a child. Even when I am alone at home, a favourite Punjabi song is enough to turn my living room into a dance floor. I still look forward to my birthday cake, get excited about my friends’ and family’s birthdays, love spontaneous plans and can laugh over the silliest things. No audience, no performance, no embarrassment. Just me enjoying myself!

I love how easily I can switch roles. Put me around children and I can be one of them; playing, making silly faces and getting just as excited about their games. Put me around adults and I can discuss work, handle responsibilities and have perfectly sensible conversations. One doesn’t cancel out the other.

Of course, being childlike and being childish are two different things. Adulthood comes with responsibilities, but it shouldn’t come with a ban on having fun. Keeping the inner child alive is about being comfortable with yourself, enjoying harmless little pleasures and not constantly worrying about who is watching or what they might think. The people who truly love you will accept you as you are: Sensible, silly, serious or all three in the same afternoon.

This Children’s Day, let’s celebrate the child within us, too. The one who still wants to dance, play, sing aloud, eat childhood treats and get ridiculously excited over the smallest things.

Because growing older is part of life. Growing boring is optional.

Happy Children’s Day!