I would rather address it as a loss of innocence. And here, my definition of innocence connotes a blissfully unaware attitude towards the man-made strictures in life. As a kid, we never worried about what ‘people’ around us would think about the way we are. And this is due to lack of knowledge about the world around us. And while trotting the path into the mid-age crisis, I cannot afford to live with this ignorance towards my surroundings. Eventually, I would then be labeled as a mentally unstable being.
As we grow, we are made more aware of our surroundings. And it then translates into responsiveness and conscious approach towards the ways of life. But then, why do we always retrospect on our past and wonder how good those days were? Is it because we are forced to exercise control over what we are now? How many times nowadays do we express ecstasy once we have experienced it? How many times we give out a shriek, when we meet a long lost friend? How many times you hug a dear one when you feel good about that person? How often do you honestly accept the fact that you don’t know anything about things that are discussed in a forum? How many times do you apologize genuinely when you are wrong? How often do you dance like crazy forgetting what’s around you?
I guess it’s because of many more reasons why purity doesn’t stand the test of time. Ego has its own role to play coupled with pressures applied by our own folks around. But is it worth in some cases to have these demands overwhelm your own innocent self? Is it always required to be restrained with folks around you whose existence doesn’t even have any bearing on you? The answer lies in appropriately segregating folks between voluntarily tolerable and involuntarily tolerable. The latter are those with whom we have to indulge for reasons best known to us. Restrained, restricted, reserved, undemonstrated are terms that come into my mind when I am with them. Many of my own relatives form an integral part of this singular group. The former are those with whom you love to be with. An unpretentious approach is the attribute of this relationship. These are folks who would willfully complement you with any kind of instrument readily accessible when you are seriously slaughtering a song. These are people who would encourage you to do what you feel. Make you feel that you are the best. And here there is no compromise on innocence.
