Tales of Childhood

During the monsoon season, it always rains heavily in KL, I guess the rain was as much of a welcome relief as a bane as there was temporary relief from the suffocating heat washing away all the dirt and grime of the city but downside of it would be during rush hour when it was time for everyone to get back home for dinner cars would be honking in every direction, and the city coming to a stand-still due to the uncontrollable traffic jams. Whenever it rained the river situated behind our school with its sinister-looking, dark murky milo-coloured water would rise rapidly, attempting to spill over its edges engulfing everything in its wake. The river water would surge forward in such great haste with bits of floating wood, plastics, sometimes even a shirt. I always thought the river resembled more of a giant drain compared to a river as the government had over the years reinforced the sides with concrete. The class teacher would occasionally enthral us with tales of how every 100 years, bells will start toiling as a warning sign and the school would be flooded, and how they had to clean up the classrooms and put the books out in the sun to dry the next day. Luckily for me, there were no major floods during the 6 years I was there.

Once after school, the same bunch of us who always stayed back after school while waiting for our parents to finish work and brave the traffic jams to fetch us, well basically we got bored, we decided to play a game of cops and robbers in the classroom corridors. After a hectic game, we stood at the balcony huffing and panting, watching the gushing river of water when somebody had the sudden bright idea of throwing things into the river. So said person went to the lost and found cupboard, and collected various things which included, pencil boxes, water tumblers etc, and after that we just stood there at the balcony, flinging things into the river. We were attempting to outdo one another by hurling the things as far as our arms could manage. The sounds of giggling and laughter permeating the air, the feeling of exhilaration and the adrenaline rush doing something which was clearly wrong. Mind you, even the class monitor was involved in the above stated affair. Now you know, why the river is so polluted, I guess we were one of the guilty parties contributing to it.

In the end, we never did get caught, but sometimes I find it incomprehensible how something so simple could bring so much joy as a child, and the ability to experience such pleasure diminishes with age, as you get caught up with the rat race in an attempt to chase after materialistic possessions. Ah… what I would give to experience the simple pure joys of childhood once again, with no worries or troubles clouding my thoughts, allowing me once again to breathe freely.