Innocence

I asked Ash if she would like to come along with me to get a match-box from my place. We both started talking about why her father comes late from work and how she detests it.


Me: Jab papa late hote hain office se tau aap unka intezar karti ho?
Ash: Ye intezar kya hota hai?


I looked at her in awe and realized it’s not a Hindi word. While I felt envious for a moment, I also considered how lucky she is, not to know what “intezar” (to wait) is. She is innocent and oblivious to the perils of growing up and falling into the trap of her own deeds; the traps and the deeds, which leads us to “intezar”.
At least, some people can wait in anticipation of it to come to an end. But not all are lucky enough. They wait like a hopeless romantic, with no aim and no charm of the future. The wait is just endless. Life abides by the past and procrastinates the future.


I realized that in the age of innocence we demand an explanation for everything and want to know the unknowns. Today, when I know everything (almost), I want to become unknown to all of it again.


I want to return to the age of innocence to shed the burden of knowledge.