Since Time Immemorial, Familia Decennia...

"Come Kids. I'll tell you a story."

"Is it story-time already, Grandma?" 

"Toi ti - toi ti!"

"Yes. Come along quickly!" 

~~~ 

That was Grandma 50's calling out to her tiny tot 90's and the gibberish toddler, 2K. 

Yes, Ladies & Gentlemen. 

Welcome to the legendary Familia Decennia... 

The family of decades. :) 

~~~ 

What Familia Decennia, you may ask. It is a pity if you don't know of them. Familia Decennia has been present amongst us since time immemorial. 

Grandpa 40's heads the family effortlessly while Grandma 50's dwells on the elegance of the yesteryears with her anecdotes. 

Dad calls out to 60's and 70's; Mom identifies with the 70's and 80's. 

Tiny tot 90's is a hybrid between eras. 

Toddler 2K is still exploring. 

Together, they are Familia Decennia, 

They create nostalgic memorabilia. 

~~~ 

"Something which we think is impossible now is not impossible in another decade." 

Constance Baker Motley must have dwelled much on the fact that time symbolizes a flowing river, which never stagnates, to make such a statement. 

The child at heart is hard to discipline. The child in blood-relation, harder. 

It is in learning the ropes as a child and teaching the same to your kid that you traverse the crests and the troughs, albeit with one wide gap to bridge. 

"The lessons of the Past are ignored and obliterated in a contemporary antagonism known as the Generation Gap." 

As parents, it is imperative to realize that we must not limit our children to our own learning for they were born in another time. 

The perception of 'Survival Of The Fittest' also graduates with the passage of time. 

The single-most important truth to let sink in lies in the fact that our parents' outlook towards life, their lifestyle was suited to their survival in those times, our lifestyle aided us to successfully survive our times, and that of our children is keeping them all fine till this point in time, and will continue to, hopefully. 

~~~ 

As far as the incessant declaration of being superlative to the successor by the preceding generation is concerned, it is a concept which is going to stick around till eternity. 

In my opinion, major events in my lifespan were timed just perfectly by Lord Almighty. 

C'mon, whose impeccable sense of time and sense am I even daring to doubt? :D 

To this date, day, hour, minute, and second, I thank heavens for blessing me with a child who was born in the 90's and attributes her childhood to the 2K millennium. 

For there can never be a more appropriate timeframe to call yours, if you wish to bridge the digital divide. 

~~~ 

You tell me, which generation has seen the use of landlines, cordless phones, mobile phones, and smartphones, all at once? 

Which one's the mother, which one's the daughter?
One utilizes the round-dial, fiddles with the cordless, another! :) 

Which generation will claim to have kick started the W3 Revolution, by exploring desktop computers, laptops, and wearable smart devices, all at once? 

What decade will I remind you of when I riddle you with a generation that had seen that arduous cable TV era and has now effortlessly switched to wafer-thin Plasmas and OLEDs, while rapidly advancing to the times of live-streaming becoming the norm? 

While the mother here boasts of her parents having decorated the house with the first monochrome television (masked by a colored screen, to give the impression of colored television) of the locality, which was at that time considered to be a luxury, and had all our neighbours in awe, the daughter considers it a cakewalk to have access to the telly tube. 

They'll tell you of which decade when they profess affinity to the erstwhile VHS recordings which graduated to cassette reels, and finally to CDs and floppy disks? 

नन्हे-मुन्ने गीत and Twinkle-Twinkle,
Nursery rhymes with an innocent sprinkle. :) 

These kids will be able to boast of the fact that they practiced the art of letter-writing, have witnessed the working of a yesteryear post-office and have actually wondered where the envelope with that one, two or five rupee stamp disappeared down the letter-box. 

They will be able to bask in the glory of having been the first ones to familiarize themselves with the prevalent SMS lingo too. 

Thankfully, the Letter Box was in a much more respectable state in both my daughter's and my time.
It has been reduced to a pitiable state post-2005. :(

Who would have seen the five, ten, twenty paise coins, the fifty, hundred, five hundred rupee notes, AND known the Bank ATMs also? 

Tinkering around with the Paise in our pocket,
Until paper money made it lighter, our wallet! :) 

The one resounding answer to all the above queries would be a cheer in unison, from the 90's kids. :) 

Thankfully, my child has seen the two extremes - the remnants the physical reflections of many erstwhile manifestations as well as the virtual avatars of a convenient lifestyle.

I am relieved by the fact that my daughter would not surprise her parents by behaving like this kid...

...Or like Dennis here: :) 

~~~ 

The experience of one emotion, however, which I feel my child and the kids today at large have missed out on has to be the absence of instant gratification for any effort put in. 

Today's time and life are fast-paced ones. So, it is more than justified for her generation to expect results in the blink of an eye or in the snap of a couple of fingers. 

Though she has been mature enough to understand that it takes the effort, determination and perseverance of days, months and even years at an edge to sprout from a seed into a full-grown tree, she has grown impatient to a certain extent upon the arrival of the 2K millennium, over the years. 

~~~  

Not neglecting the fact that I have seen more bruised knees, sharp scratches, wounded ankles, injured arms from her than any other kid of her age, during her childhood, and that she has learnt to stumble and fall and yet put a brave face through it all and improve her balance, but if I were to be given a chance, I would like my daughter to experience how it felt like to not be pampered all the time, being bashed up for being stubborn more often. 

That is HOW I LEARNT to remain grounded and be thankful for all that  had been provided with, by my parents, which was more than abundant in my humble opinion. 

My brother and I learned the hard way, that life does not work on our terms, rather it is the other way round. 

We took risks, dealt with failure and disappointment, went over the moon and back on tasting the ripened fruit of success, and came out more responsible as an individual. 

Had it been possible, I would want to provide my daughter with a more realistic expression of how I grew up, tolerant of situations and circumstances and grateful for all that I had.

~~~ 

Childhood is made fun, 

When there's exploration. 

Throw in some curiosity, 

Some innocence in capacity. 

Kids learn on their own, in a sticky situation, 

Paving their own way out, is a skillful satisfaction. 

Honing their cognitive skills, their undiscovered abilities, 

Sharpening their know-it-all, all-purpose utilities. 

#BachpanWithFlintoBox ensures that your child learns the right way, 

While there is your Little Scientist to brighten your day. 

~~~ 

I am participating in the #BachpanWithFlinto Blogging Contest, organized by Women's Web. 

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P.S.: All photos are attributed to the blog's copyright except for the two comic illustrations which have been taken from Pinterest. 

~~~