SC-S29/W6 – Nostalgia Of The Little Me: A Childhood Story That Taught You Something

What is the childhood incident or story you want to share?

Our school was about 2 km away from our home, and we used to walk to and from it every day. During those days, not many schools provided transport facilities, so most students either walked or used their cycles, as there were too few cars and motorbikes available to middle-income groups. So we were among the walkers.

What I am trying to say is that there were not as many facilities during our schooling days as we see today, so we had no choice but to walk. Our father had a motorbike, but I don't remember him ever using it to take us to school.

We had no problem walking to and from school, as we found it a good outing activity. We were following this routine until the day my brother suffered from a high fever at school, and his teacher called me and asked me to take care of him.

Yes, there were no phones during that time, but all we had was an intercom-type service among our government colony, which could cover just 9 homes. Would you believe that during my childhood, telephones had 3-digit numbers in a city like Lucknow, which connected through manual telephone exchanges?

The conclusion was that neither my school nor I had any way to inform my father, so I took my brother out of school, asked him to sit on my back, and carried him all the way home. I didn't do it in one go but stopped every 30-40 meters or so, yet reached home in about one and a half hours. Meanwhile, I could feel my brother's hot arms around my neck, which made me even more worried.

When I reached home and our mother saw me carrying him to our room, she came running after me and asked, "What was going on?" I told her the whole story.

She was so sorry for both of us and asked me, "Why didn't you hire a rickshaw instead of carrying him on your back?"

I said. "I had no money."

She said, "If it ever happens again, hire a rickshaw, we'll pay him here."

I said, "I didn't know that was an option too!"

Fine, I kept that in my mind. My brother had to stay home one week recovering from his fever, and then everything came back to normal. The first day we went to school, I hired a rickshaw on our way back and told my mother he was having fever.

"Again?" she asked, and touched his forehead. Then she looked at me angrily. She paid the rickshaw driver, and as soon as I entered the home, she gave me two solid slaps.

"You liar, you will not get pocket money for the next two weeks."

"But Mother, you said if he is sick, I can hire a rickshaw. But I knew my brother was not sick."

She was still angry, "He is not sick and you know that."

How old were you, and what exactly happened in that moment?

During my childhood days we had not too many luxuries despite my father was in a high position in state government. But then I am telling you a story which is older than beyond your wildest of imagination.

I was not yet 10 and my brother was almost 8 years old and we both were in the same school, me in 6th standard and my brother in 4th. However being tall right from young age I managed to carry him home.

What emotions did you feel during and after the incident?

After the slaps and pocket money ban, my emotions changed, but a shock hit first, and Mother's hand stung my cheek, but her angry eyes hurt worse, shattering my clever kiddish confidence. What I considered a clever move boomeranged on me.

I felt exposed, like a failed kid whose trick flopped spectacularly. I felt deep gilt because I felt I'd twisted her kind words into a selfish scam, betraying the trust she'd just offered.

Brother's fake fever? My dumb idea, now costing us both. We both lost our pocket money for next two weeks. Those two money less weeks meant no candies or comics I used to hire.

Soon, though, regret settled like a forgotten dream. yet her words, "Liar." That label burned. That made me bow never to lie or pretend. I still follow that rule. I vowed honesty next time, lessons from strict love shaping me, just like my father's thrashings shaped me strong, my mother's strictness shaped me honest.

What lesson or realization did you learn from this experience?

This incident teaches honesty trumps clever shortcuts. I learned that twisting good intentions like Mom's rickshaw offer backfired, I lost her trust faster than it saves effort.

Rules aren't loopholes but they're guides forged from love, much like Dad's strict discipline. Short-term gains like a free rickshaw ride yielded long-term losses that gave me slaps, shame, no pocket money.

Realization Integrity builds character, while lies invite consequences. Walking those 2 km paths daily built resilience; this scam busted it. Ultimately, true smarts lie in owning actions, not gaming them which is a lifelong lesson in accountability over mischief.

How has this lesson influenced your life until today?

This lesson shaped my lifelong commitment to integrity over shortcuts. In corporate work and now online I avoid embellishing facts or gaming systems rather willing to expose them.

Honesty builds trust just as lies cost me pocket money back then. During travel or shopping in whole my life I own my mistakes upfront, strengthening relationships like Mom's post-slap talks.

It curbed my mischief, channeling energy into productive work and discipline and research rigor. Today, facing 2026 challenges, that early lesson reminds me that accountability builds resilience, turning potential scams into principled wins. That lesson was strict but it worked across decades. The number of decades which you can't even imagine.

Thank you @sohanurrahman for bringing this topic in Nostalgia Of The Little Me: A Childhood Story That Taught You Something. You gave me a reason to smile and share a story that probably changed my life. I invite, @lhorgic @josepha and @enirisanti

• Note: I found just two photos in my album which I can reconnect with that period.