First, we survived being born to mothers who did not have
medical checkups while they carried us and lived in houses
made of asbestos. They took aspirin, ate coconut, raw egg
products, and processed meat, tuna from a
can, and didn`t get tested for diabetes or cervical
cancer...

Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with
bright coloured lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids
on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our
bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks
we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or
air bags. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a
bottle. We shared one bottle of soft drink with four friends
and NO ONE actually died from this. Take- away food was
limited to patties, rolls, pastries and vaddais no Pizza
Hut, McDonalds, KFC, Subway or Nandi`s. You could only
buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time...


Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn`t
open on the weekends, somehow we didn`t starve to death!

We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the
botal kade and buy toffees, chocolates, Bubble Gum and some
crackers to have fun with. We could eat prawn vaddais,
chilli mango & pineapple & boiled cadju from street
vendors without getting bad stomachs.

We ate sponge cakes, white bread and real butter and drank
soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren`t overweight
because....... WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!! We would
leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we
were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us. And we were O.K. During our
vacation, our parents never saw us the whole day, not even
for meals as we ate at whatever house we were at during
mealtimes. No one thought of compensation or asking for
money.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams
and then ride down the hill, only to find out we had
forgotten the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and
played with m atchbox cars. We played cricket on the streets
amidst the cars & hide and seek using the whole
neighbourhood as our playground. Our houses were always open
& the car keys were in the car.

We did not have Television, Play stations, Nintendo Wii,
X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY, no
video/DVD films, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no
Internet or Internet chat rooms..........


WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and
there were no Lawsuits from these accidents...

Only girls had pierced ears!

We ate worms with our fresh fruits, and the worms did not
live in us forever.

We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th
birthdays, we rode bikes or walked to a friend`s house
and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for
them! No one took appointments for seeing friends.

Our mothers didn`t have to go to work to help our
fathers make ends meet...

Rugby and Cricket had tryouts and not everyone made the
team. Those who didn`t had to learn to deal with
disappointment. Imagine that! Getting into
the team was based on MERIT.
Our teachers used to hit us with canes20and bullies always
ruled the playground at school. Schools were often unisex
but this did not affect us either psychologically or
physically because we always managed to find girl friends
& boyfriends & go `steady` with.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was
unheard of. They actually sided with the law & we were
punished a second time when we got home!

Our parents didn`t invent stupid names for their kids.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we
learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And IF YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!