RELIVING MEMORIES: PAPER BOATS

"Sometimes memories sneak out of my eyes and roll down my cheeks."

P is for 'Paper Boats':

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I’m talking about 1950s when making and floating paper boats was the most exciting activity, we as young children indulged in. Simple life and times generated simple pleasures full of fun and thrill. The joy of floating boats fashioned out of old newspapers far surpassed the enjoyment emanating from any other activity during monsoons. The puddles of water here and there invited us youngsters to plunge into water to do splish-splash. Laughter, would reach the skies when clothes were partly wet and clung to the body. Continuous blinking happened as the tiny droplets of now muddy water found a way to reach our eyes. In the free for all hullabaloo one of us uttered the word, ‘Kistian liayo’ (bring the boats) and everyone would run screaming and shouting to get the paper to make boats.  By then almost all of us knew how to turn paper into boats.

The way I learned the art needs mentioning. For a couple of years, I would cajole my older bro to make a paper boat for me. He would take his time simply to tease me. One fine day his generosity had the better of his whims and he taught me the, how to. Afterwards there was no stopping me. My friends of the neighborhood would also pester their parents to help them in making perfect boats. Very soon however, most of us mastered the art. We would sit in a circle and release our boats in the water.  Chuckling ecstatically, we eyed the wobbly movement of the boats and sometimes would step in to the puddle to straighten our boats. The adventure would continue until our mothers called us for dinner. For a week or so,we'd be at it with gusto and then slowly the enthusiasm would transfer to some other game.

How our brains register past memories and are able to recreate them is puzzling indeed. A psychologist calls it “mental time travel”. Memories cement our bonding with the past and shed light on the growth of our personalities.

Friends, welcome here as always!

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