16 Comments
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Devayani Khare's avatar

Truly, the streets did teach us and what wild childhoods, we had. We were allowed traipse across a neighbourhood with plenty of undeveloped patches, with the only caveat, that we head home when the street lights came on.

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Karthik's avatar

Same here, the lights usually came on around 6ish. But since we didn't wear watches, the lights coming on was the sign to return home. Thank you for your response, Devayani :)

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Vikram's avatar

Super one .. fully relate to this .

- an OG Bengaluru huduga ..

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Karthik's avatar

Of course! :)

Peak Bengaluru - as they say :)

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Natasha Badhwar's avatar

This is a treasure trove, Karthik!

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Karthik's avatar

Thank you Natasha. This means a lot :)

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Mumbai || Paused's avatar

Bangalore : where I enjoyed my wonder years too :) thankful.

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Karthik's avatar

Indeed! Indeed a blessing that we didn't have entertainment at the click of a button, so we had to go outside and look for it :)

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Abhishek Shetty's avatar

Love this Karthik. Took me back to my childhood. I think I was part of the transition generation where in my adolescence we moved from playing games outdoors to playing with computers indoors.

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Priyanka Sacheti's avatar

Loved reading this! In fact, I was just talking about this subject with my husband the other day about how our childhood playgrounds differ so greatly to what our two year old's play spaces and routines are like in a secure yet insulated gated community. He's a Bangalore boy and too found much play in the surrounding streets while I have fond memories of growing up in a desert university campus. I just hope our child still manages to enjoy a sense of play wherever and however she grows up!

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Amit Charles's avatar

This is a must read for all those who grew up in Bangalore, Karthik. So many memories rekindled. Thanks for writing this. Just restacked my most favourite part.

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Karthik's avatar

Yusss! I am surprised how readers across generations are relating to that line :)

Thanks a lot, Amit

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Supriya Devarajan's avatar

What a lovely piece Karthik!

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Karthik's avatar

Thanks a lot Supriya!

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Rahul Singh's avatar

Such a heartwarming read Karthik :)

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Karthik's avatar

Thanks so much Rahul :)

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