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Wonders #NaBloPoMo day 2

November 2, 2016

Why do we elders start equating everything in life with its ‘return on investment’ viability? Why can’t we simply enjoy little things for what they are worth? Is it really very difficult to be pleased? 

Today’s visit to the circus made me ask myself few of these questions. While on one side there were discussions amongst us about how much fun it was when as kids we saw tigers and elephants from such close quarters, on the other side there was certain unhappiness about how ‘boring’ it has all become now.

Was it really boring? I wondered. The kids certainly were entertained throughout. Trapeze, acrobatics, the clowns, the dogs and the cycle stunts, etc. live and real, was all new for them. They laughed like crazy and their eyes popped out of their sockets when they saw five people balancing on one. 

What wasn’t to like here? Why didn’t we parents like it as much? Did the grossly overpriced tickets or our unmet expectations make us judgemental about it? Did our parents feel the same when we were kids or did they enjoy with us?

Maintaining the inventory of people and property and handling the logistics are the biggest challenges for circuses. Added to that the huge competition they face from each other as well as other popular forms of entertainment like movies and game zones make them difficult to sustain.

It would be better if we learned to appreciate how much pain these people take to learn a certain craft and repeat it one show after another, whether they like it or not. It isn’t easy in any measure. I wish this integral part of our childhood doesn’t lose its existence.

I somehow learnt an important lesson from this today. Someone might take his kids to Disneyland and assume they had a great time there but a trip to the local fair would be just as enjoyable. Kids don’t care about how much we spent on them. We do. 

42 thoughts on “Wonders #NaBloPoMo day 2”

    1. Never been to circus? Really?? Not even as a child? ????
      It really puts me off the way parents treat their kids as a way to display their own status. I wish and try hard not to be like them.

        1. Pride is true, but one cannot confuse what we can provide them with what they would enjoy. We make our own assumptions without giving them a chance to choose.

          1. Agreed, but u know what even kids discuss nowadays n then they sit n compare where they went n did what… I remember during my school days, on birthdays we were allowed not to wear uniform instead wear our new birthday dress n give chocolates… after few years our school stopped because those parents who couldn’t afford found their kids feeling small in comparison of costly dresses n chocolates, adding pressure on them too… The bragging of parents gets percolated in their kids too actually…

          2. That’s what Shefali. Providing our kids with the best things and making them realise the importance of it are equally important. Kids do compare a lot. In A Jr’s school too the colour dress custom has stopped. Sometimes parents encourage such behaviour too.

  5. local fairs are fun…. sadly they are loosing their value in this mall culture….. we need to get back to history….. I sometime seriously feel that let history repeat itself and take us back to those golden days when money was not so powerful…… let dil be a bachcha…..

    nice observation varsha…. nicely narrated as well……

    1. Money is an interesting thing. The more it comes, the more it makes us crave for things that are fancier yet not half as much fun. I completely agree with you. Let dil be a baccha and let us enjoy those golden days all over again! 😍
      Thank you so much Sudhir. Lovely comment. 🙂

      1. The world is becoming a complex system…. And we are fast moving towards complexity of survival… It is destroying the inner peace…. When the complexity will reach the pinnacle… The whole world will start again… From simplicity…. The biggest lesson of history is that we never learn from history……. Be simple enjoy what ever comes your way…???????? Aakhir dil to bachcha hai jee……

        1. Comparing our lives with others and their achievements is the root cause of it all. With social media is it now even more pronounced. If only one will allow himself the facade it all is, he will be thankful for most things he doesn’t have. Agree?

          8. Ye duniya ek rangmanch hai jahanpanah… Aur hum Sab iske kirdaar… Ye Sirf ek Maya hai… Aur humne sentimental hoke isko itna complicate kar diya hai ki rahna mushkil ho raha hai…. Let’s make it simple once again….. Wah wah… Kya lecture hai….????????

  6. Oh yes, Varsha! Circus was real fun during our childhood days. The excitement and thrill i felt, is something I remember even today. We did take our kids to a couple of them. But these days circus has become a rarity with the animal rights protesters striking down hard on them, But even the local fairs etc have lost their sheen, thanks to the mall culture.

    1. We waited so much for them, didn’t we? It is sad how it is all becoming a passe due to the fast evolving generation that feeds on gadgets.
      I guess the fact that they haven’t changed much over the years puts kids off them. In any case extinction would imply loss of an important part of anyone’s childhood experience.

  7. If you truly love your kids, Their Happiness becomes Your Happiness. Whether you take them to a local fair or to Disneyland, the point is, did you enjoy with them, did you share their Happiness ?

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