They say time stops for none. We get older and so do our memories. Most of us look back at our childhood memories as stories people told us, parents telling their kids about all the shenanigans when they were 4-year olds, how your mother scolded you that one time you broke her precious crockery. That’s what makes the memories so great. The stories. Reminiscing the past is something every human is very fond of; be it good or bad, it’s like reading a tale you have lived. It’s fascinating how every person’s childhood differs from one another, but at the same time, we're all connected by similar stories and experiences.
In a world of “remember whens,” bedtime stories have remained constant over the decades. A woman who now reads a book called ‘The Palace of Illusions’ may remember how her grandma told her tales of Mahabharata whenever she visited her grandparents, painting exaggerated war scenes for effect. How each tale somehow reconnects us to the gentle caress of the head as our grandparents told us bedtime tales and their childhood adventures in their worn-out voices. Ten years later, that same woman might recite the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata in a small library to children who are just as fascinated by them as she once was. Some stories just make themselves at home in our minds, and perhaps it is because of the way they were told, or it was just the person who told them.
Some relate to tales as their grandma’s tales while some remember grandma’s tales by Sudha Murthy, which were just as enjoyable. Reading ‘Ajji's’ stories and adventures with her grandchildren, and laughing to the fullest as the tale went along was a joy. Our childhood was also created through thrilling stories of gorgons and wizards. From Harry Potter to Percy Jackson to Diary of a Wimpy Kid, we all have vicariously travelled to different worlds through these books. Looking for Tinkle Comics and ghost stories at the Scholastic Book Fair every year at school, these books have acted as an imprint of our childhood through stained pages.
We all somehow relate to each other through different experiences but the same stories, almost as if we have lived them together. These little jars that hold weary voices reciting tales and reading books under blankets at night provide a sense of comfort and homeliness at the mere thought of them. The tales that were once passed down through generations may also help make new connections. Perhaps the tales that were once heard by a kid are now shared as their own to toddlers. And somewhere in the pile of old books, the dusty copies of comics and storybooks still hold the same value as they once did.
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