Gone are the days
when we played hide and seek
and sought pleasure from small little things

Gone are the days
when we hid those chocolates
bought from the money
that was taken out from our father's purses

gone are the days
when our mothers came to our rescue
when things went wrong with the report cards that irked our fathers

gone are the days
when our lies were easily identified
and were spanked enough
by our teachers for the leave taken to bunk their classes

gone are the days
when we traveled with our fathers in his bike to school

gone are the days
when our mothers prepared food and we ate sumptuously
borrowing one extra dosa or roti from our sisters
who always loved sharing
and stealing one from our brother's plate
who always loved eating at least one more than us.

gone are those days...

                         - Ariv.