ALBUM

When I was a six-year-old kid, I used to play a lot with my friends and cute little pups in my neighbourhood, ride my cycle by monkey pedals with the side wheels to balance my ride, and return home after so many hours with dirt and sometimes hurt. I never sat in a place and my mom had to keep running around me, so that I don’t run out of home. She used to tell me, everything would be in balance, if I had all that I do in limits.

I used to wonder a lot those days: why does the day-night cycle exist? Why is it dark in the night? Why isn't the moon as bright as the sun? Why can I watch the moon with bare eyes but not the sun?

I wondered, wondered and wondered, but never asked anyone for answers. I never knew about space and the solar system. Even when people around me discussed about it, I tried to listen, but understood nothing.

One fine day, I chose to feed my curiosity by asking my mom for an explanation. Who else can make a child understand better? So, when I asked her, she giggled and said, think that your friends and those cute little pups are the sun. They make you look bright and happy. You spend a lot of time with them, don't you? I replied, yes. Then she continued, now assume yourself to be the earth. I interrupted, “Ma, what is earth?” She replied, the place where you, me, Dad, your friends, those pups and all others live is called earth. I gasped in surprise and eagerly asked her to continue. She then said, “Me and Dad are the moon, who come around you all the time. We are easily accessible to your eyes. We make you sleep and take care of you. Your friends and us can’t exist in your view together for a long time. It is a cycle where either us or your friends are there in your vision.”

ALBUM

My eyes sparkled now out of clarity. My mom noticed it and she was happy that I understood. She then took out the small camera we had then and clicked the moon. She showed me the picture and I jumped out of joy and satisfaction of getting my question sorted.

Now, I don’t get to spend much time with my parents now. I came far away carrying these cute little memories with me abroad for my job. I felt nostalgic seeing that picture. As I wiped my eyes which dropped some tears out of it, I closed the album, stood up and continued to adapt to my solitude.