If only, childhood never left me!

If and when a time machine gets invented, the first thing I would want is to get transported back in time, to my childhood. Nobody can deny the pure bliss that childhood is made of. Those were the days when my world was a very small one but the joy it brought me is unparalleled. Those days when being surrounded by my loved ones was reason enough to never let time pass by. And a hug from my mother was enough to rid me of all my worries. How i wish, I can bring those days and memories into life, again. If only, childhood never left me!                                                                                                                                                     As a kid, I always yearned to grow up and become independent. Most of us have echoed these sentiments. But, as they say you only realise the true value of something when it's gone. Now, when I look back on my life as a kid, adulthood fades in comparison. The perspective through which a child sees the world and acts on impulse without the fear of being judged can never be replaced. Like every kid, whose eyes are filled with dreams and mind with curiosity, I too would get excited at the thought of becoming big and self-assertive. At that time, I didn't realise that i was already living the best days of my life and that those days would never come back. I remember how I used to dream about what future would be like and what would I be like when I'm all grown up. By the way, I still dream about some things just the way I did as a kid, at times. Seriously, i sometimes feel like a curious child inside the body of an adult. At times, I feel my childhood passed by too quickly. The best part about being a child was that you could do anything and get away with it. I have done quite a bit of non - sensical things as a child and I maybe ashamed to admit some of them but, believe me, those are the memories that, to this day, bring the biggest smiles and laughter. Life wouldn't be half as interesting sans those crazy incidents. One of the few episodes that I remember very vividly still brings tears in my eyes. I was about 8 years old when I once went shopping with my father. While looking around in the store, I saw a pair of pink flats which looked very attractive. I went upto to my father and asked him if he could buy me those flats. But my father didn't like them much and turned down my favor. I tried pestering him but to no avail. Later, I decided to go and sit in the car and wait for my father. I was distraught and seemingly sad. After a while, I saw my father coming out of the store and walking towards the car. I saw some 2-3  bags in his hand. The moment he opened the door, I bent forward to peep inside the bags. My pink flats were right there! I was surprisingly happy and asked my father as to why he bought those flats when he didn't like them. My father didn't say much except that he later thought they were good. I don't know whether he liked them or not but his gesture showed that he couldn't see me sad. Those flats didn't mean to me as much as my father's loving and caring gesture did. As a kid, this event left a great impact on my mind. Parents are indeed the best gift in life.                                                                                                                                                    Another incident that does not fail to make me laugh occurred when I was 14. There was a presentation that we had to submit in school. The presentation was to be made in groups.The presentation was ready but I was not well prepared with my topic. And we all had to speak on different sub-topics. All the students had queued up outside the classroom to go to the conference room, where the presentations were going to happen. I started panicking and wanted to avoid giving the presentation for the fear of fumbling. Just when all the students started to move downstairs, I told my group member that I wasn't feeling too well and that I was planning to go home. I immediately told the teacher present in the class about my health who asked me to meet the supervisor and take her permission. I went to meet the supervisor and she asked me to call up at my house to ask someone to pick me up. I knew I would have to wait in school until someone came. I didn't want to wait back as I thought I would be asked to stay with the class until someone from home came. So I just picked up the phone in front of her and dialled some random number which didn't exist. I pretended to speak to my mother informing her about the situation. I hung the phone and told the supervisor that my mother would be coming within 7-10 minutes and took her permission to wait for my mother in the lobby. I quickly ran down and within 2 minutes I was standing outside the main gate. I hailed an auto and left quickly. I pretended to be so sick at home that I was given some medicines and made to rest for the entire day. To this day, l get goosebumps when I reminisce about that episode. I still don't know how I had the guts to make a pretend-call in front of the supervisor.                                                                                                 It does not matter how old one is but it sure is very important to keep the child inside each one of us alive. Sometimes being child-like makes life more fun and exciting. It assures us that happiness, innocence, and warmth can exist in this wicked world. We may have grown up and those days may have gone but the memories offer us a world of their own. And that world shows us how to be a child again.

Religion divides, humanity unites!

All the major religions in the world were born when man couldn't address larger problems and issues at hand. There was a point when man realized that despite seeming to have everything within his reach, there was something amiss. Something that was transcendent and beyond the control of man. All the questions man couldn't answer got attributed to God, which in turn gave rise to the concept of RELIGION. Man, thus realised, that he was no more than a puppet in this diverse creation of nature.
                                                                           
The purpose of religion, today, has changed 360 degrees. Religion is still existent but man has made religion the reason behind every course of his action. Even if that means taking away from the basic duties of humanity. This transition in the belief system occurred over a period of time, modifying the religions to suit the human requirements. And, as a result, the religions' original message and content have been liquidated. Religion had and still has the power to induce and evoke both fear and hatred. But, things only work when the equilibrium shifts more towards fear. Fear implies morality and control by avoiding indulgence in the concepts of superiority and super humans. Hatred, on the other hand leads to inducing fear in the minds of others through power. And power evokes godliness. In this context, power gives rise to evil and destruction.
                                                                                                    
Somehow, I have always felt, we are creating barriers for ourselves through differentiation. We are dehumanising existentialism on the grounds of varied practices, religion being one of them. Ask yourself this question: Aren't our duties and actions too heavily dependent on our religion? To hell with those self-created theories and concepts that only further contribute to the pursuits of the demonic cult. On the one hand, where religion is supposed to mend broken ties and help in treading the path of humanity, its misinterpretation has lead to serious damaging which in no way can be reversed. There is no one single religion which advocates injustice and takes pride in the destruction of the innocent. The fact of the matter is that we, as humans are liable to serve humanity, which is what everybody is sure to know. But, we seem to have completely lost the plot. We take the service of contribution and the act of kindness as our strengths and a way to have an upper hand over those in need. The motive of gaining adulation and respect is on top of the agenda. Everybody knows what the truth is; but, trying to be blinded by the religious misinterpretations seems to serve their vested interests. And any service done with expectations and ulterior interests only reeks of selfishness.
                                                                                                                                                            
I shall reiterate once again that the core of every religion is humanity. Hinduism talks about the aspect of deeds and virtues mainly in the context of heaven and hell. Benevolence and love form the pillars of Christianity. Similarly, Judaism talks about absolute faith, discipline and morality. Coming to Islam, which believes in complete devotion and absolute submission to the almighty, its message has been completely misterpreted. Buddhism is a mirror to all that man can be and sets an example to achieve the highest degree of living through kindness and non-attachment. Likewise, the remaining faiths only go a step ahead to make the concept of humanity clearer, albiet, in different ways, if only we are willing to decode the true message of every religion. All the wars occurring in the world today have a religious backing. We are all divided and pitted against each other on the grounds of religion. How many of us even know the true message that our very own religion conveys, to be able to judge and breed contempt towards any other faith? This only goes on to showcase our poor mentality and narrow-mindedness. One must learn to be human first and accept humanity as his/her only true religion. We are only creating a larger gap or I should rather say, we are getting distanced from God Himself and entrapping ourselves in a place we keep making as non-real and far from being tolerable to God as possible by creating an environment that we are, only in the quest to get closer to him. We all bow down to one God and remember, He does not differentiate.