Innocence Lost...

I spent a couple of hours at the besant nagar beach today, and most of the time near the waterline. During this time, i saw a lot of kids between the age of 3 and 7, liked their antics, their playfulness but most of all their innocence.

There were two father and son duos - the fathers in mid 30s and the sons around 4 years.  I watched this pair who were about 20 feet apart. In one pair, the son was very bold and brave. He kept pushing his father to go deeper into the water whereas the father was cautious in not venturing too far. The other pair, the son was very tentative. He was just getting his feet wet standing at the very edge of the water and whenever there was a big wave, he would rush back a few feet. I kept watching both these pairs and was very fascinated by the kids. The two kids were innocent and one in his innocence of danger wanted to go deeper into the water and the other in his own innocence of the safe hands he was in, did not venture beyond the water edge. After some time, i noticed a small plastic ball which was bobbing up and down in the water. The father of the brave kid also noticed and pointed to his son. In a short while, the ball came closer to the water's edge but a bit farther from where they were standing. The father & son ran to the spot and picked up the ball. At that point in time, the other kid noticed the ball and asked his father to get it for him. By then, the other pair had already picked it up.

The father of the brave kid noticed that the timid kid wanted the ball. He asked his kid if the ball can be given to the other the kid. Without a moment of hesitation, the kid told his father to give the ball. By now, the timid's kid father was saying not to ask and let the brave kid have it. But the brave kid, got the ball from his father and gave it to the other kid and gave a big smile. That was a fantastic moment.. of generosity built on the foundation of innocence.

I started to wonder when and where did we lose that innocence. All of us were like that when we were kids, and some us even until college when our friends were friends and not competitors. Innocence lost, by choice or by design.