A Glance Into Past

Enough was enough. Sixteen of six different types of movements for the taekwondo drill practiced twice does not leave you in a pretty jolly mood. As if that was not enough, three rounds of March Past along the perimeter of the school field only added to all the discord. It was in this state that I put down my school bag, bursting to capacity, overfilled with a navy blue blazer having a monogram embroidered with Latin words, and my disorderly school uniform which I had changed into for the drill. In an absolutely disgruntled state of mind, I looked out of the window.

It was then that I caught sight of it. Some incongruous thing was hanging from the strap of the curtain. It appeared brown, with a long tail hanging straight. A monkey. To be more precise, my stuffed monkey. It was one of those strange moments when your entire emotional burden magically vanishes within a few milliseconds. I was then smiling. Gently.

I shall be very frank with you. I never look back at my life, even when my grades can be so bad as to not show my face. Yet, perhaps once in eleven years, I do. This time, I did. I looked backed at my childhood. At the me with fluffy, curly hair, and a ubiquitous gleam in his eyes. I remembered my impenitent childhood, yet I dare say I was more joyful on the outskirts of the City of Joy then, rather than I am in it now.

Then, I was a careless little child with an innocent vibe. A stuffed toy was always my companion. The mornings used to pass playfully messing about with the mud and sand on the yard, much to the annoyance of my parents and granny. Making me take a shower was another task in itself, I am told. I was emotional. Going through the archive of my childhood portraits, I see that the strands of my hair were never strait, which is in absolute contradiction to the status quo.

Catapulted forward twelve years, I dare say the childhood me would scarcely have recognized myself today. I admired my own transformation, and felt great, tall, and proud.

Yet, I felt small.

“…. we find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are more galaxies than people.”

As these words of Wernher von Braun echoed in my ears, probably for the first time in my life, I felt seriously scared.