My Childhood Memories and a Confined Generation of Bangladesh

I hail from a remote village in Bangladesh. When I was a toddler my village inundated after sudden heavy rainfalls. My home was on the high ground than most other houses in my village. My grandfather was the second among his five siblings. My grandfather brought a dinghy for his family members to commute.

I was the youngest among my classmates. I used to go to bed late night after hearing fables from my grandmother. In my schooldays, my two aunts and two uncles used to come to my home at dawn. They drag me out of my bed and dressed me up for school. My two uncles sometimes hung me on their back and start their voyage to school. Some other days they kept me on their shoulder on our way to school. Now those uncles and aunts are very busy in their workplace!

During rainy seasons, we relished the beauty of nature. Some of my friends collected trunks of banana trees. knot these trucks and made a raft out of it. I with my friends used to row that boat. We traveled long distances using that raft. All our croplands remained submerged during monsoon. Sometimes some leaves of Amon paddy raised their heads above water. We observed gentle breeze passing through semi merged paddy leaves. Paddies swayed in a rhythmic style. Fishes of varies species jumped from the water then dip into the water again.

We had about thirty footballers in our village. Football players had to wade through one-kilometer inundated land to reach our playground. After playing a long time when we became sick, we returned to our homes flowing the same route.

When the stream of floodwater passed through narrow canals of our village, we loved it. We climbed on branches of the mango tree which extended its twigs over the narrow water body. After climbing on bough we jumped into water one by one.

At the onset of winter, the water of the channel started to decline. We accustomed to catch fish using hooks and nets. We sat on a row on the bank of the canal and then caught fish using hooks. Snakeheads, catfishes, some types of local minnows were abundant to catch.

We enjoyed our childhood very much. We climbed on knurs, ran through passages of crops, and picked mangoes during storms. Our school was seven kilometers away from our village. About fifty students from our village, we first assembled at a junction of our village. After assembling, we started our journey towards our school. It sometimes resembled a crowded assembly passing through the rural road.

What I depicted about my childhood was two decades ago. Now the style of relishing childhood has changed a lot. Our new generation now confined to their houses. The purchasing power of village people has increased. Even in villages devices like smartphones, tabs, laptops, television, video games are available. Children now love to spend their time by engaging themselves with devices. Around us, we notice children using thick optical. According to eye specialists, one of the main causes is children do not enjoy green fields. The other reason is spending time on devices.

From dawn to dusk children spent most of their time for school and coaching centers. In the very morning, we drug them out from their bed. After taking breakfast we take our children to coaching centers or to private tutor home. After swallowing knowledge, they start their journey towards their school. During school time they only get a few minutes for tiffin. After school hours they have no time to play, even no time to change their uniform of the school.

We again take them to any coaching center for further devouring knowledge. They have no time to play, to swim, to fish. They have no time to mount on tree branches, no time to run through passages of green fields.

They spent most of the valuable time finishing the syllabus during non-holidays. During holidays they love to engage themselves with devices. Guardians of children are not aware of it. Parents want the best marks; they have no value for their children's childhoods. Thus our children becoming the victim of our business mind. Making our children less creative, unsocial. Only completing the syllabus of a class cannot be the only goal of any child. Learning from society and nature is very important.

Parents should keep a balance between study and other activities of their children. Otherwise, we can observe a generation with zero creativity and empty childhood memories. the