Toys, Childhood and Generation

   I grew up in suburb of a big metropolitan city that is Kolkata (Calcutta). Though, 1/3 rd of my day was spent in a very quite school of south Calcutta, I cannot say I was a city girl.
  I spent all my afternoon playing with my friends in my neighborhood, and a lot of us came from a wide range of socio-economic background . But that did not infiltrate in our bonding or made me to learn some bad words (this is another wrong opinion about playing with kids coming from different background). I think that helped me to be better person, by knowing and trying to understand the difficulties which some of us face. Never the brand of cloth we wore or the price-tag of our toys did matter. In fact, we had all same kind of toys..a boy and girl pair( i think Rs 10-15 that time) and lots of kitchen cooking utensils. A new shoe box had a lot of value that time, because after that one of toy families would get a new house . The lack of ingredients never hindered our enjoyment and enthusiasm, in fact often having not much will boost up child's imagination and ideas. We grew up in a generation ( I would rather say a better generation when we did not have a 5 year old playing in i-pad), technological advancement often  take out a lot from a child's imagination and has profound effect on his developmental growth.
    Now, when I am a mother of a five year old. I did exactly the same thing what my contemporary mothers did. I loaded my child's room with loads of toys...each one of my friend knows how does it look like. I got lured by Big store toy rooms. First came "Thomas the train." My God! It was like an explosion. First Thomas, then his friend Edward..then Henry...Gordon..James..Percy.. the list continued. and It was not always my son. It was me too.Like comparing with other Mom , I would go to store and run to buy Emily..or blah..blah..blah.. But this post is not about catharsis of my feelings or self-declaration but a note to any new mom. It will never end...the list will never end. We are the easy piece or  soft target..we are nothing but consumers..dad..mom..grandma..grandpa...and our precious little ones. No.. I am not against these toys..but somehow I feel its really pointless to buy so many of them just to increase the number or variety. One always can have some of them but not all of them.
   Some of the toys I really love to buy and play.Like LEGOs, again I am telling myself..no more different types of LEGO boxes. I bought LEGO pieces in grams/in weight basis and gave Adi to play... what ever he wants to make. Some other good toys I feel are TRIOs and JENGA. All are building/construction toys and good for fine motor skills. Another game "Candyland" is suggested by Adi's school teacher. She emphasized to play with him to increase his social interaction and communication skills.
  Our present younger generation is so much addicted to technology that really not good for their mental health. Most of the little kids get glued with the i-pad and i-phone, tablets ...becoming more introvert. Often by playing together, people learn lot about team work. And its so much good to see them play together. Few days ago I went to take my son from school. And somehow I felt to watch him playing with friends without his knowledge. It was so good to see them playing together, running..laughing and jumping together. Childhood should be like this..without electronic gadgets and expensive toys but to play and laugh together from generation after generation.

Durga Puja-2013

  I came to know about the exact data of Mahalaya just two days before (Thanks to Facebook). Being married to a non-Bengali and being away from Kolkata for ten years, indeed make me forget about lots of Bengali cultures. No I am not complaining..just stating a fact. If you are in West Bengal,  you want or do not want ..advertisements, sales will make you aware of the biggest festival of State is coming. However, the changing weather of Boston only makes me aware of the fact, fall is approaching. U might be thinking I am snob..I am not .

   My Durga puja became less meaningful for me with time. May be I am getting old. However, I miss those moments of childhood................... I cannot remember exactly the time..but I had a Shiuli tree ( scientific name Nyctanthes arbor-tristis) in our Kolkata home. I think I might be 7-8 years old that time. Every day morning I would get up early, run under that Shiuli tree and get amazed by seeing those white flowers completely covering the ground below. I miss those days, the fragrance of Shiuli..the soft white petals and orange floral stems. Not so long before (may be five year down the lane), I was in Chennai at in-Laws place and those familiar scent floated in the air. I ran downstairs and found our neighbor had the same tree. That was the last time I saw her, felt her in my palm. Hence, my Durga Puja does not get complete without the smell of Shiuli and morning running to pick them, make garland out of them.

  The preparation of Durga Puja used to start at least one month before with the smell of new clothes and frequent trips to Tailor's shop (Tailor uncle made my dresses from the age 3 until I got married). ...fashionable frocks with different designs. I have a vague memory of soft clothes, nice patterns….mostly small floral prints. I think first time I selected my own dress when I was like sixteen years old. Still I had no complain and actually I kind of liked those dresses chose by my father. Now, after these many years and losing my mother, the expectation is reduced to sub zero level.  

      One more thing which made my Durga Puja memorable was the bunch of new books published in occasion of Durga Puja . Lots of my memories are attached to those books. I remember my father brought my first Anandamela Pujabarshiki (which is a special book still now gets released during Durga Puja) when I was six. I read that book like the bees get to know first time where is honey. After these many years I still cannot forget the feverish reading without getting up from bed . Most of the authors keep their best literary work to be published during the pious occasion of Durga Puja. So there would be lots of expectation among book-lovers . Here in united states ,I miss that spirit a lot. Indeed, one can get all the books that publish there in USA but the spirit of young mind waiting eagerly every day for the fresh new pages to smell, to hold in her hands and read and feeling is missing. I told you I am getting old..