Glimpses of Childhood

It is probably the most ironical thing about growing up; you want to be a child again, trace back time to the time when life was life! There were so many things we did and got away with! It is dreary to be a grown up and deal with everything you do, face the consequences and fight them. Simplicity was at its best during those days, and I am sure everyone would agree to the following list of thing we all miss from our childhood:

Summer vacations

Oh those days! The euphoric feeling of a month long off! Seems like a dream to most of us now- (try taking a month’s off from your office!)The freshly peeled mangoes and trips to our relative’s house were almost like a routine- sheer bliss! The re-union with cousins, and those incessant sessions of games with them was like the best feeling ever.

Home-made potato chips

Rarely does anyone have the time to make those crunchy potato chips at home. The packaged ones filled with nothing, tempt the kids of today. Little do they know the heavenly taste and the smell of those freshly bakes chips. I still vividly remember the sight of my mother putting out the slices to dry in the sun and me eagerly waiting for them to be edible!

Santa Clause

I had a heart break when I came to know Santa Claus is fictional. I would do anything it takes to get that thrill back to check the gifts in the stocking that Santa has left for me the first thing in the Christmas morning. It seemed like a miracle when Santa granted our wish by gifting us exactly what we wanted. Life is dull without such innocent surprises.

Crying

Yes! This is the saddest part. I miss crying like a child. Crying was like an instant solution to any distress back then, and you always had some two to three people attending you, to make you stop. Gone are those days when used to howl out the reason of my distress and be done with it. Who said growing up was easy?

Birthdays- Then and Now!

It was not long ago when the thought of our birthday approaching gave us goose bumps. A few of our happiest memories from childhood are of our birthday parties! The word ‘party’ used to be much under rated back then. Recently I was invited to one of my nephew’s birthday who had just turned six. It was a party in real sense and he was spotted serving crispy potato chips to ‘his guests’; another cacophonic bunch of six year olds.

While talking to his mother I learnt that it was the kid himself who wanted to celebrate his birthday this way! He had invited almost half of his class friends; made sure he got a fancy cake with his favorite super hero on it, and wore the outfit he saw in a showroom! Most kids I see this day are actually thriving on the things they see on television and would do anything to make it happen in real life.

Life used to be so simple when we were this age, and birthday ‘party’ was a gathering with a few friends and family a cake, lots of candles, and kettle chips. India has seen a marked change in the outlook with the advent of globalization. Exposure to television and internet has made the kids of these days more demanding in several cases. Parents too, have become indulgent and a birthday party has to be ‘party’ in all aspects even if they have to go out of their way to make their child happy.

Making your child happy is probably the sweetest thing for a parent. But think for a while, aren’t we making our children more materialistic? Aren’t they deriving pleasure out of the most futile things? Where are the days gone when simple things used to make us happy? I think parents should maintain a fine balance between being indulgent and wise when it comes to the upbringing of their children.

Are Baked Potato Chips Healthy?

Potato chips are probably one of the most popular inventions of the time especially with the younger crowd. They love to gorge themselves on these scrumptious items and the fact that it’s made from potato and with other flavours to it has only heightened its popularity. But it’s not only the younger crowd that love them, even office working people, parents and relatives all love them and they are the first thing to be brought out when serving guests or friends over.

But in the recent few years with the rise of obesity and heart problems many health experts have concluded that junk food like the fried potato chips and especially their unhealthy consumption has led to all these health problems being faced. A lot of health experts have condemned the consumption of junk food altogether.

But since most of the population has not given them up, many companies have come up with alternatives to the regular version while introducing variations like the baked potato chips, or the no salt and low cholesterol chips. These alternatives supposedly have the same taste as to regular chips but area little healthier since there is no use of oil to fry them and the salt and cholesterol content is low too.

The question that comes up is that are these baked potato chips, really that healthy or are they are the same as the fried versions with just a fancy name stuck on them. It has been proved that these alternatives are a little bit healthier, but not so much that one can rely completely on them and should not make it a regular consumption.

And even the major population leans towards the fried ones still and because of that even companies have to produce both the version. Still it is advised that one should consume the baked ones instead of the fried potato chips since even if marginally they are still a healthier option to the other.

At the same time such junk foods should never become a part of a person’s regular diet and should be consumed only sometimes and not always.