I am very sure all of us must have had some or the other childhood realities which would have come crashing like a pack of cards at some point of time. I know how it feels. Disastrous and devastating right?
My earliest belief at the age of 3 happened with my first viewing of Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty”. I remember how enchanted I was with the mere sighting of Princess Aurora and the swirling of her lovely colour changing gowns as she sang and danced with her Prince charming. The moment she touches the spindle, pricks herself and is put to a sleep of 100 years, her face is just a charming painting. So beautiful she looked in her peaceful sleep, that even now, when I close my eyes, I can recollect her face. Her smile, the lovely red lips, the pink cheeks….. oh what a beauty she was! And that is exactly how I had wanted my cheeks to be. Pink and rosy like Sleeping Beauty and I just wanted them.
My mother told me that if I ate tomatoes, I would have pink cheeks. That was all that was needed to make me follow what ever my mother told me. I just wanted those damn pink cheeks! That’s all.
I actually gobbled tomatoes day in and day out for nearly 10 years, only to realise that I was terribly fooled by my mother. ( sniff!!! sniff!!! )
The second crasher came when I was about 5 years old. This time it was the frog jumping All Out ad. The way it jumped around like a cute frog lapping at the irritating mosquitoes with its large pink tongue seemed so fascinating. I suddenly din’t want the good ol’ “Good Night” anymore and a sulky mode of mine started when my parents were left with no choice but to get me that “Wow-so-adorable” all out. I just couldn’t wait to lay my hands on it and finally after my father fixed it up for me, I sat in front of it with my legs crossed and hands under my chin with an eager anticipation. Several attempts of my mother calling me for dinner seemed futile. Finally, exasperated, my mother came into my room looking for me and she was perplexed to find me sitting motionless in front of the silly all out. When I told her it wasn’t jumping, my mother stood still. She was motionless and I also think, shocked at my idiotic thinking. But I was only 5 right? How could me me think so big big was my whole point!!! Anyways, I hate all out to this day and never ventured to buy one again.
The last and probably my biggest heart break was “Tweety Bird”. Yes, you read it right. THE TWEETY BIRD!!!! The cute little yellow bird that sang and rubbed its back with a large brush while singing stupid songs was my all time favourite. I had everything that a Tweety Bird merchandise could offer – Tweety cake for my birthday, tweety stuffed toy of all sizes, tweety pillow, tweety earrings, tweety bracelet, tweety bags, tweety pouches, tweety pencils, tweety erasers and oh the list is so endless. I lived in the world of Tweety and I loved it that way. I could speak like Tweety and I knew all the songs that Tweety sang. I mean, I still do. I am almost 30 now and exactly until about 5 years ago I thought the Tweety actually existed. This was also shattered by my mother as usual. But I still love Tweety and always will.
But what mistake did I do that all my childhood desires had to be squashed this way? I had squandered everything that was left of me for living each of those realities only to realise one fateful day that every one of those so called realities was a LIE! Sigh!
Team Infornicle
Priya Ravinder
