The balls above bring back memories. Don’t they? Well, they definitely do for me. When I was a kid, mobiles weren’t very popular and so we had to look for other sources of entertainment that included many board games, those plastic bats, plastic cars and later on those remote controlled ones, a soap bubble maker, stuffed cartoons and bears, cartoon characters in balloons and balls- football, stumper ball, leather balls, table tennis balls, plastic balls, even golf balls, balloon balls and my personal favourite -the crazy balls.

Well, what’s so special about them, you ask. Nothing much, except that once thrown they bounce back soo high and the fact that they come in such attractive colors- neon, green, pink, blue, a mixture of pink and blue, green and yellow and soo many more and the rubber like texture of the balls. You couldn’t help but love it.

And this one fine day, when I was out with my mother and visited a stationery, I saw these crazy balls. Not one or two, but a whole packet. I couldn’t believe they still sell this. Now-a-day, kids have so many sources of entertainment and when they do play outside, it’s usually in those professional stadiums. I thought they had stopped making them. So anyways, when I saw the packet, I couldn’t help but want one. With the best puppy like face I could muster, I looked at my mother and pleaded to have one. My mother looked at me in all her seriousness and she said and I directly quote- “Why do you need one? Are you a kid?”. It was when it stuck me, I wasn’t a kid anymore. I was supposed to be all serious and mature. But then again, feeling that child like excitement once again, after soo long felt strange but it felt soo good. I couldn’t help but want it- both that feeling and the crazy ball. And so I looked at my mother and said, “Yes, I am only a kid “. She smiled. What more could she have said and when I didn’t budge she allowed me to have one. Just like those old days, choosing one was soo difficult. There were soo many colors- neon, green, pink, blue, a mixture of pink and blue, green and yellow, red and green. I took the pink and blue ball and clutched it tightly in my hand all the way back home. The crazy ball sure has me crazy over it. So, gotta go. I still have to play with it. And so, if you ever come across any of those or any of your personal favourites, embrace them. Be a kid. Life is short, the pandemic has taught us this, but our childhood was even shorter. And we all miss it somewhere, sometimes. So when life gives you moments like these, don’t just sit and recollect. Go ahead and relive.