For a baby-
Mummy and Papa. Maybe a grandparent or a sibling.
A toy or two.
Some colors- red, yellow, blue or green.
A few favorite rhymes.
Same thing, every-day.
For a kid-
Parents, a couple closest relatives, neighbor kids, a teacher.
Many toys. So many games.
All crayons.
Two-three cartoons loyally and the same movie over and over.
Same things, in variations.
For a teen-
School friends, school-bus friends, neighborhood friends, coaching classes' friends, parents on family weekends, cousins once or twice a year.
Video games. Mobile games. Cricket/Football/Tennis/Swimming/Martial Arts.
Playing on the loop-a music video some kid saw and talked about.
One color- either black or blue or gray or pink or purple. Just one.
A new movie every week.
Something Different.
For a college goer-
College gang. Professors. Chai-wale bhaiya. Maggi wale bhaiya. Xerox wale bhaiya.
LAN games.
Colors?
Class bunk wali movie. LAN wali movie.
Very Different.
For a working adult
Retiring/retired Parents. Boss. Co-workers. Employees. Carpool/Train/Cab partner. Flatmate/(s). Landlord. Dabba wala/Dhaba wala/Cook/Domestic help. Random acquaintances in XYZ country/company. Girlfriend/Boyfriend/Wife/Husband. In-Laws. Bank Manager dealing with Student Loan/Car Loan/Home Loan. Kids. Kid's teachers. Kid's friends' parents. New reporting manager. New Reportee.
Gym/Yoga/an occasional marathon.
Colors- Of the walls; when house painting. Or of the Sky and the Sea; on a vacation.
Netflix. Prime. Hotstar. TV News Debates.
Same or Different- a struggle to do it all.
For a retired elder
Kids and Grandkids. Walking or exercise buddies. Some religious/spiritual little club.
Newspaper end-to-end and the daily crossword.
White and lighter shades.
Bhajans and occasional black-and-white era songs. A complete news bulletin.
A reluctance to try anything new. Or an excitement to learn everything new.
We start out with seeing the same two people (mom-dad) and the big achievement is to complete a sleep, take a few steps here & there and eat a few spoonfuls. We mostly stay indoors, with the same people and same routine.
We end up having met thousands of people and the big achievement is to complete a sleep, take a few steps here & there and eat more than a few spoonfuls. We mostly stay indoors, with same people and same routine.
Everything in between is Life as we know it.
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Realization that the changes in the world may have changed our lives significantly, and how we are now leading it is different in so many ways. But at the core; Life is as we know it.
