Memories do not fade away...

The early childhood days
Times of innocence
Mysterious & lovable
Walking in the rain and following
The school bag with the maid
Splashing water and mud
With sweetened candy in lunch box
I look forward to
Oh! Those childhood days!
They are so vivid in my mind

Playing big brother at times
The feeling of a protector
Back to home
To play and bully other kids
Picking up a quarrel
Thus inviting neighbor
To complain about me
To my mother in vain
Climbing to the first floor
Over the grilled balconies
The diwali crackers
Were fun really
But for luck my eyes would be gone
As I bend to see what is lit
Close and involved to ignore
The obvious
Oh! Those childhood days!
They are so vivid in my mind

Traveling to new metro
Learning tamil from tutor
And those tiffins in the evenings
That mother made
With care
And those stories of jaykumar
In the school
Too good and lively
The football games in the ground
With the shoes getting torn
School days are mundane
I felt then
But everyone has to go through
As life was bound to school
I grimaced

Helping my twin when there were fights
Naturally I was stronger
‘Might had the way’ always
I felt
But that’s what I had to flaunt
I am big brother, right?
And those ‘exams’ were too many
Managed to be first class
Public speaking was a fear then
Soon got over the same
In the graduate school
New found organizing strength added
And adolescent years were
Replaced slowly
With ‘so to say’ adult likes and dislikes
Reading fiction became a passion
Ayn Rand topping them all
Idealism and perfection
Imagined and sought after

Loss of mother
Was unbearable being a momma’s boy?
Affection was sought always
Then too
The swimming was refreshing
So was the gym
Personality is important
I advised myself
Oh! Those childhood days!
They are so vivid in my mind