THOSE DAYS

“Match is against C section tomorrow. Come to the ground at sharp 7am”.

“Tomorrow evening we have a bet match against the next street guys at 4:30”.

“Come fast man, are you still sleeping? Everyone has come”.

Those were some of the phrases which one would frequently hear in my childhood days. The day would start as early as 6:00 am. Armed with bats & stumps, catching up 2 more sleepy guys, reaching the ground in cycle by triples and pitching the stumps when the rest of the world is still in dreamland were the routine on weekends. The energy levels would be at its peak. We would walk back home dragging the cycle along side with us, discuss the game played, have snacks at the road side stalls and make fun of each other.

Those days the term “Games” implied only outdoor games. PT was the most sought period. Young bloods would be waiting like a hungry lion to showcase their talents. This promoted sportsmanship and acceptance of defeat in the right manner & spirit. We had studies and sports in the right mix. We would reach home at around 4:30 pm, go out to play and return back at around 6:15 pm. After that we would study (not always) for around 2 hours before winding up for the day. We had teachers who taught us discipline, how to manage time, how to respect elders etc. Our teachers would chide us whenever we committed any mistakes. Today’s teachers fear to chide their students fearing the wrath of parents who shower excessive pamper to their kids and thereby spoiling them indirectly in the long run.   

These days I hardly find any kids playing outdoor games. They study throughout the day and find no time to play due to shrinking play grounds and excessive parental & academic pressures. Kids appear more sensitive & mature at such a tender age. They hardly tolerate failure and throw tantrums whenever their parents refuse them of their favourite toys, gifts. Those days’ tuitions were meant only for kids who were hyperactive and couldn't concentrate on studies or for poor performers, but nowadays all the students have started going for tuition irrespective of their performance, thanks to the burgeoning commercial coaching centre’s and the rat race to catch the first place.

They are more glued to cell phones, video games and idiot box thanks to the advent of technologies. I rarely find children cycling their way to school. They can be spotted zipping down the roads with their fancy bikes & scooters and most importantly they carry their cell phones with them to school under the guise of worried parents. We never carried cell phones to our school nor were we monitored by our parents. We never suffered from obesity because we always cycled to all the places and never had snacks in Mcdonalds, KFC, Dominos.

The front page of newspapers are always published with sensational news on students murdering their teachers, committing suicides, vandalizing public properties, abusive teachers and much more.

Where do the present day students lack?

I once flunked in a school exam. Depressed I was walking down the road and incidentally bumped into my favourite teacher. She read my eyes and said “It is only failure of examination, not you”. I was too young at that time to realize the power of those words and realized it when the same words were echoed by my boss when I flunked twice in my professional exam.

So who is to be blamed here for all the mess?

The students, teachers, parents, movies, education system?

I don’t want to sound like a politician. Everyone have a collective role to play here. Parents must read the minds of their children to realize what they want & what they really like rather than pressurizing their children to fulfill their unfulfilled desires. Teachers should impart moral ethics & morality rather than concentrate in completing the syllabus on time. Students must realize that educational degrees act as a good shock absorber and back-up when everything else fails. Movies must stop depicting violence, stalking and booze as a kind of heroism & pride. The education system can be changed only if we vote for real & uncorrupt people who promise change. 

The veteran Journalist and Actor Mr. Cho Ramasamy rightly said “Those days the streets were narrow but people were broad minded; now it has become the other way”.