To my brother, sisters and all those born in the 20th century.

 When we were born life was different. Our mothers went to the hospital twice – once in the beginning to confirm conception and then after nine months. They were not subject to ultra-sound scanning or tested for diabetes. After the trauma we were placed on our backs in cribs which were laden with lead-based paints. 

At birth our arms were scarred with the BCG vaccination, but no injections for suspected jaundice administered. 

As children we captained paper boats and piloted paper planes. We flew kites which  took hours to make. When they failed to fly high we brought is down and fixed the problem. We hired bicycles which did not have bells, brakes or lights. Helmets were unheard of. We road in doubles and triples and never complained of breathlessness. Hitch-hiking was fashionable and we took risks with perfect strangers.

 We rode in cars piled atop each other and there was always room to accommodate more. We were often asked to bend forward or duck so the driver could see clearly the rear-view mirror. Seat belts or airbags were unheard of. What’s more riding on the back of a jeep on a warm day was a privilege. 

We drank water from the garden hose and did not cringe when five of us drank from the same bottle. And no one actually died from doing so. We choose ice-candy that coloured our tongues – green, red and blue and we laughed at the effect it created. Yes, we laughed a lot. 

Aerated drinks were for birthday parties. We ate Kwality ice-cream and Cadbury chocolates, pastries and sugared drinks and did not qualify for obesity. 

BECAUSE we were out playing.
We left home at three in the afternoon, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on – no one worried. We went out as a group – boys and girls. The girls held back while the boys chased and stoned many a chameleon. We offered strategies to succeed in a first time kill which came from observing them. We sat on walls with our scrawny legs dangling and talked of Enid Blyton, Agathe Christie and the crime thriller James Hadley Chase. 

We did not have Playstations, Ninetendo’s, X-boxes or video games. No cable or dish-TV. No surround sound, CDs or DVDs. No mobile phones, internet or i-pods. No personal computers, internet or facebook. 

BUT we had friends.
We simply walked into a neighbors house, knocked on the door and introduced ourselves. We talked easily to anyone who looked our age. Boy or girl did not matter.

 We deftly aimed stones and sticks at raw mangoes and guavas and sunk our teeth into them despite the mud. And the worms did not live in us forever. We fell out of trees, broke our teeth. And no accident was reported in the papers. 

We came out of it unscathed and moved on to become the best risk-takers, problem solvers and strategists ever!

 Because we tasted freedom, failure, success and responsibility and we learnt how to deal with it.