Friday, June 4, 2010

Of fairy tales!

When I was a kid, I used to love fairytales and all of those adorable characters from Enid Blyton books! They fascinated me...the idea of fairies, godmothers, Cinderella, gypsies, nymphs, pigmies..., Malory towers, St. Clare’s, wishing Jug...‘hop, skip and jump’ still hold a special place in my heart!! Among the very happy memories of my childhood, the times I spent reading them is definitely the happiest thing I can recall! I can never forget waiting for my father to return whenever he used to go out of town...because I knew he’d get back a story book for me! And my mother still tells me how she used to make me do my homework tempting me with a fairytale in return! And it really is sad to see that the children today have no time for all this. They are missing out on the happiest times of their lives and it pains to think when they grow up, all the memories that they’d have of childhood would be a heavy bag that made their shoulders droop, endless hours with books trying to mug up things, a mother running around the house with a bowl of porridge, and the happiest memories would be when they were in a game parlour. And I fear the next generation children would follow the mores of these. I am not against teaching, obviously NO!, but yes, I do not like the way children slog the whole day long trying to get the best grades in the class under the pressure of parents, and I do not appreciate on what they are trading for all this. They are trading the best times of their lives, the best days when these stories actually mould up a child’s fantasies; they are losing their innocence.
Anyhow, I guess I was dragged in the wrong direction for this definitely was not what I wanted to discuss in this blog! I wrote a fairytale some days back for a friend of mine to cheer him up...and I am glad it worked! :) I’d like to share this story with you people, and hope it brings back some pleasant memories and relieve you of all the stress...for a fairytale does help me lift up my spirits! :)

Have you ever heard about a place called ‘Heaven’? A beautiful place it is, I tell you! They say it is an abode of angels and fairies, nymphs and mermaids, and of all the lovely things you can ever imagine! You get everything there, from wishing trees to dream wells! Girls who are good to their mothers and little boys, who never quarrel with their brothers, live there happily. The sun shines all day long showering the place with warmth, love and smiles and you never have even a tinge of darkness and grief there. People there never make faces and never groan or complain. You have cream fountains that adorn the chocolate houses (you even have houses made of biscuit and wafers with furniture made of candies!). The pleasing aroma of vibrant flowers, the spectacular glow of the colourful rainbows, happy songs of playful children, lovers waiting with red roses for their beloveds on benches made of twigs and lilies, and mesmerizing, melodious music which fills the air, makes the aura all the more beautiful! I had once a friend who even talked about a magnificent castle in heaven, where God resides on his mighty throne. All the fairies and nymphs wait patiently at the doors of the castle, to be dispersed so as to attend to God’s commands. When you wish for anything on earth, your wish burns like a candle in that castle. And when it is granted, it melts into a cloud and floats in the sky! God has his favourite people in heaven and he himself takes care of them!
Once upon a time in a faraway land, there once lived a beautiful princess who longed to go to this place, ‘Heaven’. When she was a little girl, she loved listening to stories of heaven from her Grandma. Her Grandma told her of how one day, a brave, young prince would come galloping on a horse, would kiss her softly, and take her away with him to heaven! But for that, she would have to be patient and good. Her mother taught her to be courteous to elders, and to smile gently to everybody. And this made her loved by all! She was good to everybody around her. She took out time to help the needy as she felt their pain, she even read out stories to the old as they went to sleep, she was very caring and obedient, and this made her the favourite princess among all! The blessings she saw in their eyes were what kindled her heart for them and made her happy! Every night before going to sleep she used to pray to God, asking him to send her prince to her.
She didn’t have much of friends, because the children she played with laughed at her when she told them of her prince. They were not like her. They didn’t know of love or any heaven. And this annoyed her! She was different. She lived in a fantasy world, with dreams of her prince, and her heaven. She made friends with the butterflies in her palace garden, the fish of her pond, the birds on the trees, the little toad which lived by the pond, and her sweet cat which she rescued from the clutches of a gnawing, angry dog. She sang to them songs of her love, songs that one day her prince would sing to her! And they all danced to her tunes! Every morning, as the cuckoo clock struck seven, the princess would get up from bed, stroll down to her garden, and spend endless time with these friends of hers, laugh, dance and play. As uncle moon rose up in the sky bidding farewell to the sun for another half day, she used to go back to her palace, kiss her mom and her dad goodnight, pray to God, and then she would spring to her bed, hugging her grandma tightly and sleep hearing to another of her prince stories. Days passed and she grew up, waiting for that prince.
On her 18th birthday, her mother held a big party for her. All the people in the kingdom were invited. There was loud music, gracefully clad ladies, handsome gentlemen, and good food. Every guest was properly catered to, and people were spell bound with a party as grand as that. People around her were enjoying in merriment, but she was sad. Today, she was not with her friends in the garden. She couldn’t talk of her prince to anybody. She smiled, but only as a sign of courtesy. All the while she thought of how her friends must have had gone to sleep by now. She took a glance at her mother, and found her busy with the guests. She slipped away from the party to the garden, to look for her friends. The butterflies had gone. She kneeled over to the pond and called to the fish. Alas, the fish too was asleep. Then she whispered to the birds, the toad, and the cat, but all in vain. There was nobody. She was all alone. She ran away out of her palace, in the fields across the street to find solace in the darkness out there, she kept running until she was very, very tired. She stopped, and knelt down on the green, soft grass under the sky. She hung her head, and as she tried to close her eyes, tears rolled down her cheeks like pearls. She was crying! She hid her face in her palms and cried all the more. Behind her sobs, she felt something else, the warm breath of somebody! She opened her eyes to see a handsome young prince, kneeling down with her, raising his hands towards her with fingers clutched tight. She looked at him in wonder, as if mystified with the look in his eyes and radiance on his face. As she continued staring in his eyes, unable to take the gaze off him, he slowly released his fingers, and opened his hands. She saw, to her amazement, all the tears she had shed that night on his palm. As another tear tried to find its way through her cheeks, the prince slowly bent over her, kissed away her tear, softly and lovingly. She realized that her prince had come to take her away! This was her prince! She was overjoyed and she jumped with happiness! The prince held her up in his arms and made her sit on his lovely white horse, with him sitting behind her, and they galloped away to heaven!


I really hope u enjoyed reading! :)
Take care.

2 comments:

  1. Your blog brings nostalgia to me and I am sure it will be nostalgic for every 30+. It was a great pastime for us all, to sit at night and read these fantasy tales full of inspiration. But in today's post modernist, super fast, technology oriented world its relevance is questionable. Today I found myself confused, to relate my childhood with such fantasies which moulded my thoughts to create my own Utopian world. I never found a single fantasy in this real world, which is painful for me. And today I really think if I never had read those stories and fairy tales in my childhood I would have realized the bitter realities earlier. It took me some time to get rid of that Cinderella stuff, which always boost idealism. This idealism doesn't exist, so why keep on looking for something which never exists. I am also confused in introducing such stuff to my almost 3 years old son. It doesn't mean there is no need for story books for children. They do need stuff which can motivate and groom their personalities. But it’s all about fantasising to what extent? And on what cost? What we need is to re-define the art of story writing in relevance of today's practical world. So no kid would feel lost as a grown up and easily accept the harsh realities of this place known as new world.

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  2. Thanks a lots mama for your point of view. I totally understand what u say...and this exactly was why i wrote this blog. i want to change this thought amongst all you grown ups. You say these stories boost idealism. I believe boosting idealism is a necessity. If you do not know what do you want in life, or how exactly you define perfection or idealism as you say, how do you think you can reach there? Following the mob isn't the best way to live. If a child doesn't know of all this, if a child cannot imagine a place as such, he never will strive to reach it. He'll be satisfied with what he has, or in the worst case, he'd grow up to be selfish just like all others. Be selfish, competitive, have everything, own the world... this is what is taught to a child. And sadly, all these teachings are usually given by parents. I am sorry if you do not agree with me, but don't you think if everybody tries to be this, there'll be so much of stress, so much of hatred, so much of competition, so very unlike what happens in these fairytales? I want a child to stick this to his head that a 'bad man' always has a bad ending just like what happens in these tales. Why can't a child be taught to live happily? instead of telling him to mug up and get good marks anyway in tests, why can't we ask him to learn..to understand...to ask? I want a child to have his own fantasies, to learn and increase his range of knowledge and not just mere degrees, i want him NOT to compromise on his dreams, not to be a part of this system if he doesn't appreciate it, not to fall in the line just for money or success, because i think a person has truly succeeded only if he has never compromised on his desires, if he is satisfied with himself. I believe these stories inspire a child to think, to imagine, to know that there can be heaven on earth, if you believe in yourself. What do you think is common in all these fairytales?? All of them have a happy ending. I want everyone to know that this earth is a place where there are 'happily ever afters'..only if you believe in yourself, your goodness. We have made this place famous for corruption, selfishness, and only we can change it...but by starting to think differently. I have started it. I want others to follow. And trust me, this world will be a much better place to live in...because once you change your thoughts, you change your world. Mama, i accept your viewpoint, people have different views, but here i've laid down what i feel is correct. There is absolutely no harm in making your child read these books. Encourage him, for they help. They only help. Let him know that there can be a perfect world, a perfect life; for you never know, perhaps your child might grow up and be the one who changes this world! :)

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