Those Were The Days My Friend, We Thought They'd Never End ...

Continuing from my earlier post regarding how ghostly silent the neighbourhood is because of the Hari Raya holidays, it does bring me back to my own childhood days in my old neighbourhood. It was so much unlike the one I'm living in now. Living in a multi racial country, we get to celebrates each others festivals together and it can be so much fun.

I remember when Hari Raya came around those days, the whole neighbourhood would be lighted up with blinking coloured lights and kids would be out running around with sparklers in their hands. There would be whoops of delights from everyone, irrespective of your race or religion. Everyone would join in the festivities.

My direct opposite neighbours were of the Muslim faith and on the eve of Hari Raya, the children would be outside their houses playing with fireworks and sparklers and I remember joining them in the fun. The whole neighbourhood would have this party like atmosphere. And in the morning, the neighbours would send cookies and stuff to all of us.

But these days, all that seems to be lost. Like I mentioned in my earlier post, the current neighbourhood I live in is so quiet that it doesn't even feel like there is a festival going on. It just feels like an ordinary weekend. While I'm not complaining about the lack of sound, I enjoy peace and tranquility but I do miss the sounds of the festivities in the background.

I guess the world has changed quite a bit since my time. Now, people would rather keep to themselves. The children are probably more interested in what's on TV or even buried deep into their Playstation's or Nintendo's and don't really find running around with sparklers all that much fun. And I don't blame them, some of the things you can find on TV or DVD are pretty cool.

Take this Disney Bingo DVD game that offers a high tech educational twist to the old favourite. It's perfect for all ages. And kids can now spend fun filled hours learning about numbers, colors and matching skills with their favorite Disney characters. The game even features clips from various Disney movies so you can sing along with some of them. Now, with DVD games like these, it's no wonder I don't see kids out there running around with their sparklers anymore.