When I switched on the television earlier this week, a song from an old Indian movie was playing. I smiled. The movie had a scene, where one of the main characters challenges some of other characters to touch their elbows with their noses.
I remember how all of us at home transformed into contortionists, and spent some time trying this out. We looked really silly, and had a hearty laugh afterwards.
Our lives abound with such moments.
My son specializes in creating huge soap bubbles with the palms of his hands. He works hard at this skill, and it gives him a lot of joy each time he creates a bigger bubble.
Both my husband and I have the ability to raise our eyebrows in quick succession. Our kids have not inherited this ability. So, on those rare lazy Sunday afternoons, when we spend time doing nothing as a family, we show off these skills.
Sometimes, when we all happen to be near the mirror at the same time, we make faces at the mirror! A family of silly faces.
Courtesy – shutterstock.com
Even as kids we did many silly things. I remember how, after petty squabbles with our friends, the word in our language to announce to them that you were no longer friends was kai, which translates to vegetable.
To become friends again, all we had to do was to show a thumbs-up sign and say pazham, which means fruit.
So, great friendships were broken and sealed merely by saying the words vegetable and fruit.
Life was that simple.
During our childhood, our Dad made rhythmic beat sounds with his mouth, when we sang songs. Only when my kids entered their teens did I realize that what my Dad did was called Beat Boxing. But at that time, it was merely some silly fun we shared as a family.
Even today, when we take selfies, we all make silly faces at the camera, capturing those beautiful memories digitally.
Every family has its own version of silly. Silly times are fun for the whole family – to showcase skills that would never be used in the ‘serious’ parts of our lives.
And that’s why these silly moments are important. Because we can let our guard down, act silly, and take ourselves less seriously for those few moments!
Simple Moments of Life 