According to today’s regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who
were kids in the 60’s, 70’s and probably shouldn’t have survived, because…
Our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint
which was promptly chewed and licked.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors
or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.
When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip flops and
fluorescent ‘clackers’ on our wheels.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the passenger seat was a treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it
tasted the same.
We ate dripping sandwiches, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy!
pop with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were
always outside playing.
We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no
one actually died from this.
We shared the same non filter cigarette or even a beedi with 4 people .
We ate the paani puri from a road side stall, and enjoyed it every bit.
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we
were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us all day and no one minded.
We did not have Playstations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No
99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no! mobile
phones, no personal computers, no Internet chat rooms. We had
friends-we went outside and found them.
We played elastics and street rounders, and sometimes that ball
really hurt.
We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones and teeth, and there
were no lawsuits. They were accidents. We learnt not to do the same thing again.
We had fights, punched each other hard and got black and blue we
learned to get over it.
We walked to friend’s homes.
We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school, we didn’t rely on
mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner.
We got soaking wet in the rain, got scolding from the mom,suffered cold and cough, but no antibiotic.
We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and ate live stuff,
and although we were told it would happen, we did not have very many
eyes out, nor did the live stuff live inside us forever.
We traveled in the foot board of the Mumbai trains and definitely boarded and lighted from the speeding train.
We were thrilled to stand at the edge of the packed bus.
Our actions were our own. Consequences were expected.
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard
of. They actually sided with the law. Imagine that!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and
problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an
explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and
responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
And you’re one of them. Congratulations!
