Happiness Wanted!!

A little more than a decade ago, when I was an adolescent pimply boy, holidays or weekends were something made me happy. Happy because weekends were the time when I with my younger brother would plan for outing with parents. I saw myself enjoying my childhood best by visiting to Mumbai’s beaches, having dinner at different restaurants and enjoying old giant wheel rides at a fair.

Of course things have definitely changed over the years. Everyone embraces change, provided it is for good one. But there are some changes that I personally never wanted to occur. Nowadays, weekends have become a family fun-time that includes window shopping, munching on junk food at foreign food chains. Earlier where Udipi (a South Indian pure vegetarian food joint) was favourite hang out spot for not only my family, but also for many families in Mumbai. But, now malls' food court has become favourite.

Evenings were the time when we all friends could go out and play cricket, football at playground. And, celebration of winning the matches with Chinese food at local rediwallas with friends is something that added a different flavour to our evenings. And you will see today’s kids also playing cricket n football....but unfortunately by gluing themselves at malls game zone. Sarcasm apart, today mall culture has influenced everyone; whether he/she comes from middle class or high class. 

Names like Nike, Puma and Adidas were alien for me, unless I attained the knows and hows of advertising world in my life. But, ask today's gen kids, and they will know the exact location of a brand's outlet in the mall; courtesy to their more often visits. Today, everyone wants to spend their weekends in a nice mall in the vicinity, coupled with a cool ambient.

Sure, according to today’s kids, the mall culture is something they enjoy, they love. Simply because mall is the place where they can get everything under one roof; from playing games to buying clothes to having lunches and dinners. But, don't you think that amidst the malls culture they are losing the real happiness of spending weekends. The excitement of planning to venture into an unexplored food joint in coming weekend. Crazy fights with siblings on fixing menus for next Sunday evening, and most importantly asking daddy the know-it-all questions about the stunts that bikers did in circus.   

On one end where I feel blessed of having experienced these fun times with family and on another end, I feel sorry for my children that they won’t be able to experience what I have had as the happiness of those weekends is lost somewhere.