Finding the simplest of joys!!

I remember those days when i used to smile at the simplest things, like once, i smiled when i saw my favourite shirt washed and hung out to dry! I had worn the shirt a zillion times and it was faded beyond recognition! Everbody but me used to ate the shirt, my mom topping the list! She had kept the shirt hidden for a few months now, and i stumbled upon it and mom had to wash it so that i can wear it! Oh! what amount of persuasion it needed to have my mom wash it! And mind you she uses the washing machine, so it didnt need much of her efforts!

Ok now i get to the question "It makes me wonder what makes us smile and what brings the moments of joy? "

I believe they are those memories, those nostalgic moments, those lost in time yet green in thoughts! How many times have you smiled when you see child jump? Weren't you reminded of those days of childish prancing, those adamant demands for a toy, for a dress, even a chocolate!

I still remember those games played, those friends with curious nicknames like "YentaaNe", how wonderfully well we used to mingle with girls, those pranks, the resulting punishments, the scars of the wounds of childhood - like the one on the knee when i fell of the bicycle while learning to ride it!

Well we have grown havent we!! We have lost those glorious moments of joy, washed away in the tensions and trauma in the journey seeking ACHIEVEMENTS!

What were our acheivements back then? Let me a list a few

1. Having the most golis/tamarind seeds amongst friends
2. Jumping the widest gutter
3. Pulling the tail of the neighbourhood dog and returning unscathed
4. Falling off a tree/compound wall and pretending not to be hurt
this next one is the funniest!!
5. Peeing the farthest or tallest!! Yeah, we used to do that, we used to mark the farthest distance one to could pee and the tallest on could spray! We even used to spray our names on walls! We used to mark the tallest one could pee and try to outdo the best!!

Lol, i cant stop myself from laughing, it sounds funny (and disgusting to some) doesnt it! But we'd have done such things atleast once!

Friends, woah! What a variety of friends we used to have! The one with an eternal hole in his shorts (it would appear in two hours on a new pair of shorts). The one with the eternal running nose with the slimy green mucus being blown into a bubble when he got excited! The one with all the new toys which were broken in a day or two. The one with crooked teeth, the girl with pig tails and the front teeth absent, the one who could get into any gutter and get the ball!!

Woah its a treasure trove of goodies!! Most of them must be engineers, doctors, traders, wives, political honchos and what not!! I have lost track of more than half of the friends i used to have .......

Heyy!! wait a minute ....... while writing this i also realised that i lost track of the subject ....... "Finding the simplest of joys!!"

I could find my share of joy in writing this ....... I know it will connect to some part of your life and would have brought back some sweet memories and made you smile! If you smiled atleast once, i'd be happy ....... if you smiled more than once leave a comment ....... if you laughed at "the peeing adventures" contact me, i probably could teach you the skills even today!!

Keep smiling, thats what we're born for, smiling in the face of adversities!!