Forlorn Childhood Poem by Ch J Satyananda Kumar

Mom’s lullabies
Grandpa’s gifts and freebies
Collecting pebbles
Playing marbles
Flying kites
Star gazing nights
Listening to grandma’s fables
Reading stories sitting before library tables
Indulging in gilli-danda and kabaddi*
Nurturing a sound mind and healthy body
An occasional swim in village pond
Enjoying the school visiting magician’s tricks of magic wand
Climbing at times a mango tree
Asking the grocer a free bonus piece of jaggery
Learning lessons with pleasure
Enjoying ample time of leisure
The early days’ memories are fun-fare and lore
The bygone delights of childhood of the yore

A baby’s forlorn sojourn to a crèche
Working parent’s first childcare hitch
Interview preparation for LKG seat
Sending child to school giving a bribe of sweet-meat
Unbearable burden of notes and text books
Unscientific teaching by under-qualified hicks
Cartoon networks in television sets
Wild computer games causing psychological razes and fits
Toy gun totting
Wry fun trotting
LKG to Inter, a mad.. mad rat race
An imposed itinerary to save the over ambitious parents’ face
Eamcet and IIT preparation from class seven
Away from parents, gloomy hostel room is heaven
Study material, tests and un-ending revisions rigmarole
To make him a heart less doctor or a greedy engineer, its not a hyperbole
In today’s ruthless materialistic world the precious life of the child is a pawn
The poor youngster deprived of proper sleep struggles with no time to yawn!



* Gilli-danda and Kabaddi are the traditional Indian childhood games.