This Is Not Childhood|Chapter:3 (Photo Albums)
Under the phase of lockdown, all we think is what to do something new every single time.
And whenever that piece gets over, we trigger,
“Okay, What’s next?”This was what exactly happened.
I kept asking “What’s next?”
And guess what? Here’s Chapter-3 of this series…
A photo album. The album we love to fall into memories always. Our childhood photos.
Last week, my father pulled out the photo album of both me and my brother when we were hardly 2 years old.
“How cute!” I yelled excitedly seeing my & my brother’s 1-year-old photos.
And then I added, “… was I!”
Well, I went into flashback then.
That time I had concluded myself, “How cute we all are!”
I’m getting you are a bit confused about this. Gotcha ya mate!
Actually, it was the time when I was in class 10. Lots of relatives were gathered at my home.
They were in between some conversation on children and their growth.
Meanwhile, they went so curious to see photos of me & my cousins when we were babies.
Probably there were 5–8 cousins’ photos out there in the photo album.
Well, every one of us does say “How much I’ve changed!” right after seeing the baby photo of ours, agree?
So, here’s some words for me and the entire universe.
“Listen, it has to be changed.”
Somewhere during that conversation, I got quite disappointed.
You know how badly relatives compare with each other. Such a rude comparison. Always.
Damn are those who still are comparing their 1-year-old kids with others.Universally, there’s nothing fun in comparing.
Also, all of our common sense does say, “What’s a point in comparing with a 1-year-old?”But still, they’ll do. And they do.
Why? Because they want to show how cooler they are in comparison…; don’t know to whom?
And yes, I was compared by a lot of relatives just like many of you. Want to know in which silliness?
In cuteness. In body health. In skin-tone. In hair types. And more.
Ughh! Arghh! However, for who’s sake, no one knows!
I’m actually glad I’ve questioned myself at that time (Class 10) over this.
In fact, the right question, if I see that right now.
The question was — “Is being cute we all need?What if no-one is cute out there?”
I was thankful for such questions.
As my dear, you never know what’s going on into kids of 14–15-year-olds.Especially in the age of puberty. It’s quite a serious thing.The puberty stage is so fragile.
One should not compare with cuteness, color, and such appearances.And, understandably, it’s human behavior to compare somewhat.But there must not be a quarrel on that.
Did someone ever compare your baby photo with another? How did you feel?
To very kind note.
I can say it’s not how cute certain kids are.It’s how cute kids are.Because the kids are cute. And there’s no comparison. Not at all.
Again I want to add on this thing.
Many of us might miss childhood after checking into baby photos.Things change. Yes, it does.
I’ve also seen many relatives of far relations whom we hardly know.
They have their photo frames inside their drawing-room.
And do you know what they tell other people?
“See, how cute we were and see how it’s all changed. Those days were so good then & see now, hehe.”
What’s “then” and what’s “now”?
Isn’t cuteness comes from sweet reactions?
You are having your childhood photo frame. You are not missing your childhood.
Besides, it’s nothing great than having our childhood memories inside the room. At least, we are having importance.
The importance of where we came from.
If we are feeling like missing childhood checking into photo albums of our past days, then we are just feeling to be missed. It’s not childhood that was missed.
It might be something else.But we are not missing childhood.
If I am missing it because my relatives say I was cute & not now, then I am missing something else. Not childhood.
And yeah I think cuteness lies in sweet reactions. Go and watch kids. We get attracted to the moment they offer their attention.
Isn’t it a reaction?
So, cute might just be a word in the end, I guess.
(Let’s add one photo of ours inside our room, to remind ourselves where we came from)
Like I’ve already said in last 2 chapters, some questions are better to be alive.
I wanna ask again, “What is childhood?”
If you’re new to this, it’d be fun to read previous chapters.
Thank you so much to have your time here.
