Shrinking open spaces, missing smiling faces

ARE THESE EXPENSIVE CARS, 2WHEELERS, PLUSH HOUSES AND FANCY PARKS FOR WALKERS WORTH THE LOSS OF SMILING YOUNG FACES WHO MERRILY PLAYED IN THE OPEN SPACES?

On a peaceful afternoon, I was going about my chores in the kitchen and felt pleased to hear the gleeful shouts of children playing with a ball outside in the open space opposite my house. The space is surrounded by thickets on one side and houses across the road. Their carefree and charming faces enriched me with nostalgic childhood memories. The spectacle was lively from the kitchen window.

Kids, adolescents, young, and adult, in every phase of life we earn a different kind of experience. I remember as a kid we used to sneak out in the sweltering summer afternoon to play with our gang of besties. I fondly recall whoops of exuberance as we played till we were soaked in sweat. The game of cricket led to broken windows and the blame game of ‘who did it’ remained inconclusive. Most children who grew up at the same time as I did will agree that those playing hours were the happiest unlike the ‘happy hours’ of modern times designed, packaged and delivered when and where needed.

I was lost in reverie but brought back to the present by loud adult voices that had effectively shut off the children’s. The bouncing ball had hit the compound wall of my neighbour who came out complaining of what harm it could have done to his garden. This wasn’t the first time that the ball had landed in my neighbour’s driveway and children shunned from open space with a warning not to presume this place as their playground. The children didn’t belong to our lane but the lane behind our houses. The war of words between the children and the neighbour continued. The neighbour complained that the children’s screams disturbed the peace and tranquility of the place and his afternoon nap.

Though I wanted to confront my neighbour as how could we stop children from playing in a public place, I withdrew from the tirade. But the damage had been done. I realised there would be no more sparkle shouts of kids playing their make-believe games. The turmoil gradually subsided and the eerie silence returned.

I recall how we as kids rolled in grass in open spaces and in our innocence went to nearby houses to collect shuttle and ball, unmindful of our neighbour’s reactions. Playgrounds were not monopolised by neighbour’s whims.

Sent away with a warning, now those smiling shining faces with curious gazes go to different academies to play cricket, badminton, hockey, and skating. They play under the watchful eyes of coaches by paying a hefty sum. Their natural talent is reined in and replaced with monitored grooming. Trees are few and playgrounds and games are fewer as children are coached in formal sport.

Play sessions are confined to the living room with handheld gadgets. I hear occasional chirps, twitters, and chimes but miss the leisurely playing of children.

It makes me wonder if all these expensive cars and twowheelers, pretty landscaped houses and parks, carved and chiselled for walkers, are worth the loss of smiling young faces who merrily played in those spaces? Here we live in the 21st century in hep and happening urban concrete homes and dwindling natural spaces. Indeed, everything comes for a price.