More Childhood Memories – By Charmaine Candappa
When I was a kid growing up, in Sri Lanka, there was not much my brother and I could do with our friends, but stay active.
There was no television to watch, no video games to play, and no fast food places to ask our parents to take us.
In school, there was netball, hopscotch, running races, and other games..
At home we joined our neighborhood friends to play. We had all this for little or nothing in expense.
During the holidays, we go to the park, claim the swings, climb hillocks, and use the playground slides in the park.
For most of the time, our mom would find it hard to get us back into the house, even though we knew that there would be consequences if we delayed in coming back.
If we were lucky, mother would let us go to the beach, with the old domestic tagging behind to keep a watchful eye, and report to mother if we did not listen to her instructions.
I still remember the strip of garden from the garage to the front gate in our parents home, where my brothers and friends used to hit innings as they played cricket, and often run to our neighbor’s yard to retrieve the ball, before anyone could see us.
How simple, yet rich are the childhood memories of the past.
Charmaine Candappa.
