Sandcastles in the Sand

Watching “How I Met Your Mother” never brought this kind of a thought in my head.

In a certain episode, one of the leads Robin, played by Cobie Smulders, sings a song titled ‘Sandcastles in the Sand’. It got me thinking, of what that set of words represent in our lives.

Childhood- the innocence it represents is something we can’t explain. That part of our lives represents pure joy, and those blissful moments that shaped us into who we are.

How many of us remember our happiest moments from our childhood? Most of us will have one memory attached to our head. I have one such memory, and it is attached to a set of people I knew as my best friends. I was in my teens and I lived in the best city in the world.

Mumbai. Thanks to a transfer my dad got, I moved into this city- the city of dreams. This is where my childhood, at least the important part, was spent. And to spend it, I had a few people around me. Life as simple, and it was awesome.

Days would start all happy and bright. I’d wake up to persistent calls from my dad, which I’d repeatedly ignore till he poured water in my ears. I’d jump up from my dreams, mostly involving large robots and ninja fighters (Big fan of Transformers, Pokemon and Ninja  Robots), and drag myself through breakfast and morning chores.

I’d then pick up the intercom and call my next door neighbour, a boy who was around 5 years younger to me, and my trusted buddy. Then the call would go to a brother and sister from the house downstairs, and a girl who lived in the first floor. There were a few others who came and went. But we were mostly there. We were the Rad Five (at a time when Secret Seven were the coolest kids in town), and we were awesome.

We were also joined by neighbours from the adjoining building, a pretty girl and a guy whose birthday was the next day after mine. Also with us were two of my other best friends, a mallu guy with whom I’ve never spoke in Malayalam, and a Bengali football playing Manchester United-crazy dude with an awesome thing for music and art. They slowly became an indispensable part of our gang, and it was greater than ever.

Time flew like Superman and with the speed of Flash. We spent lazy evening playing Hide n Seek, Monopoly, Carrom, Table tennis, Football, and a load of other games that one can picture form their childhood. Evening snacks from the supermarket close by, and the walk there, trading Pokemon cards, fighting with the neighbour kids for Holi, a lot of inner conflicts, poorly choreographed dance shows- the list was endless. But at the end of the day, we’d all kick back and relax at the small idea of a clubhouse we had made below the slide in the playground. We’d talk about worldly issues concerning favourite cartoons and upcoming movies, till the first among us was summoned from upstairs. We built our sandcastles in the sand with our smiles, dreams and friendship.

Times were the best, but ironically, also the enemy. We had to go our separate ways as we grew up and got new interests. I haven’t heard from a few of them for a very long time. But I know that if and when we do meet, it’s going to be like old times, and it has been with those who I’ve met recently.

Our sandcastles may have been hit by the waves of time. But while the innocence and childish playfulness might have mostly been washed away, the castles still remain, worn out and skeletal, but still evident.

Here’s to those few kings and queens of my sandcastles in the sand.