Bored?

Bored? When was the last time you spent hours doing nothing…yearning for excitement.

More than that when was the last time you actively engaged in the art of dodging boredom altogether?

For me, boredom takes me back to my childhood in the late '80s in a gated colonial bungalow on two acres with massive old leafy trees in scorching northern Indian summers…3 girls + a dog slumped in the veranda thinking of creative ideas to make the endless afternoons tad more thrilling without leaving the grounds.

We concocted all sorts of schemes: raiding the kitchen garden for a sweet and pungent treat of radishes, setting cycling speed records, challenging each other to roller skating feats, dabbling in Hussain watercolour replicas (looked similar!), trying to be quietest possible with the soda stream machine whilst sneaking bubbly lemonade and oh the forbidden activity- picking jamuns ( plum like berries). It was all about embracing creativity to stave off boredom's relentless grip.

Then there were those winter evenings punctuated by power cuts, where the absence of electricity meant homework wrapped up by dusk and dinners devoured by 7 p.m. Huddled around the dining table lamps, which gave way for the best nail art for my sister and assortment of books ranging from Agata Christies, classics & borrowed (racy) Perry Masons for me and Barbies going through multiple makeovers for my youngest.

All in the pursuit of not getting bored!  Remarkably, those efforts to evade boredom not only filled our days with excitement but also moulded us into resilient individuals.

Looking back, I would love to have the opportunity to ‘avoid boredom’ and experience the creativity, the fulfilment and joy in finding newer and non-materialistic ways to keep.

But it’s been years since I experienced the mission of avoiding boredom. Hoping to create the same environment, I looked into what were the elements whose nexus made those moments so magical.

• Luxury of time, we had so much time on hand. There were hours that merged into days and days into weeks. The summers were long, and we had the luxury of no real deliverables, tasks or goals.

• Acceptance of limited means and opportunities. We were content with the what our ecosystem had to offer. All opportunities of engagement had to be found on the two acres of premises -what the land and house offered, which encouraged resourcefulness and creativity. We started with what we have. And not what we don’t have.

• No tech! There were no mobiles, computers, Minecraft, PS , Switches or drones etc. This was late 80s. Therefore, the the few individualist activities you could do were reading, writing, creating…options were limited but there.

• Gratitude-the smallest things gave us happiness- like making our own ice lollies or conjuring up new rules for games to make them more exciting, trying new ideas, celebrating our wins. And conscious joyfulness in mind and heart- there was general joyfulness and pleasantness in our minds and hearts. And we were consciously looking to create engagement and joy. Good times did not happen to us, we put our spirits, energies, positivity or in other words conscious efforts in having a good time.

• Safety- psychological and physical safety. We knew were safe, taken care of and no harm could happen. There was an environment of trust, and we were surrounded by love.

There is nothing that stops is from replicating the environment and yet how often do we do we consciously set out to experience the same joy and creativity we basked in?