Time flies and before we know we hit the mid-point as we steadily progress towards the ‘much-adorned’ senior-citizen status in our lives. But then aren’t we fortunate that we have the ability to travel back in time into our memories to retrieve information that we have stored so diligently from childhood days?
Yes, in a jiffy, we remember our school days and cherish them once again, even as we are ensconced in today’s modern settings.
During our younger days in the 1970s, we collected empty matchboxes and cigarette packs lying on roads, pictures cut out from newspapers of our favourite actors and sportspersons, bottle caps, silver foils used to wrap chocolates, stickers in all shapes and forms, articles of interest that appeared in newspapers and magazines, and even handwritten letters in the form of postcards and inland letters which we received from family and friends.
Old shoeboxes invariably served as containers for our memorabilia; there was literally nothing that was so easily discarded as garbage!
We found ingenious ways to carry these boxes into school bypassing many guidelines! We felt triumphant when we did not get caught by school authorities and could share our happiness with friends. Trading these with friends and like-minded acquaintances was indeed a favourite pastime.
My collection of stickers I had meticulously organised as stories and stuck them on my pencil box and geometry box.
My sticker collection was envied by my friends.
One day, my younger brother and cousins grudgingly destroyed them all during my short absence in the very precincts of my home. Even to this day, we laugh it off.
p_harihar@hotmail.com
