#BachpanWithFlinto Off The Beaten Track!

Those lazy Sundays, relaxed moments, those idyllic times, days were to be enjoyed, moments to be savored and hours to be shared! The best days of our lives, the carefree, tranquil days of our childhood, never did I find a day when I was bored. Yet, today the favorite rant of my six year old is that he is ‘bored’!


I never knew the word bored when I was his age. Never did I find an instant when I needed to fill my time with things not found with Mother Nature. Never did I find a dearth of friends to play games like…….‘Pithu’; where we made a stack of stones and tried to topple it with a ball, so much fun it was! I had a lousy aim, so what? Who can forget ‘Tippy, tippy tap; what color do you want?’ Rainbow was my dress code in those days.

Maybe it was the lack of cartoons on TV or the totally cool concept of actually going out of the house to play or maybe it was the pretty cool weather………….I never missed a day to be out and about.  Rare is a time when we look back to our childhood and not feel a tad bit nostalgic. 
My vacations were filled with nature walks, visits to parks and the zoo. A visit to a close by national park was a must from which ever station my father was posted to. We traveled to obscure and unknown places, stayed in places off the beaten track and pretty much saw our beautiful country from the ground up!

Today, my son has his vacations planned with trips to another city, visiting the numerous malls and theme parks along the way. The enjoyment of travel to any place is decided by the fact whether there is any good cable network at the place. Being out and about is determined by the by how strictly I follow the ‘no TV after 4pm’ order and not his love for parks and slides.

I feel sad that he is missing knowing the feeling of being one with nature, not having a TV, radio or video game running as background noise. Trying to find peace in silence and just communing with Mother Nature. I knew how to dig earthworms, catch frogs and kill the ticks my dog caught from our excursions; all thanks to the numerous Nature Walks we did.





Climbing hills, wading through streams, collecting myriad shells and stones were all treasures I cherish as learning experiences too. His bachpan is missing that element of fun with nature and I wish I could take him and show him how much fun is possible when we get ourselves dirty, sweaty and tired just tracking a line of ants or trying to catch a hen for the coop!

That he is just six and we still have a long way to go before he chooses his own path so for now I take him off the beaten track as often as I can.

 
Don’t you feel our kids are missing the true essence of ‘living with nature’?






This post has being written for the #BachpanWithFlinto blogger contest. 




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The Little Scientist

IMAGES courtesy PIXABAY

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