I asked my 3 year old daughter “what time is it”?
She replied – “Saada paanch (5.30)”.
I have asked her this many times at different occasions but the answer is the same – ” Saada paanch (5.30)”.
I asked “how long did you sleep in childcare today”?
She spontaneously replied without blinking an eye – “Paanch kalaak (5 hours)”.
I had asked her this on different days and the answer is the same- “Paanch kalaak (5 hours)”.
I told her we will be going for Garba on Saturday as she loves and enjoys it. I told her this on Monday. She then kept asking me everyday leading up to Saturday – “Aaje garba ramva javana (Are we going for Garba today)”?
She had no clue when Saturday is.
Children are naturally happy and joyful beings. They dont have to do anything to get into that state. The joy flows out of their natural state. Its not a pursuit for them. Its their intrinsic and inherent nature. There is lot of lightness around their existence.
And I constantly wonder why??!!
From my daughter’s answers above, I think one of the reasons why she has more joyful existence is – the lack of “Sense of Time”. She doesn’t have the “Sense of Time”. I mean she vaguely understands time but she doesn’t have the full blown psychological concept of the time. At least not yet.
She is completely devoid of all future pursuits, agendas, to do lists, anticipation, goals, aspirations, ambitions and plans.
She is completely free from past regrets, mistakes, rumination, memories and despair.
“Now” is the focal point of her life.
I am almost reluctant to say “she lives in present” because the term “live in a moment” is frequently and easily used these days. It is often misconstrued and largely misunderstood. The best way I can put it – She doesn’t constantly live from the reference point of “past” or “future”.
Adults can’t do without it.
With their “Sense of Time”, adults fragment their lives. Past. Present. Future. They incessantly oscillate between future and past, rarely being in present. This fragmented existence creates layers of miseries that they are not even aware of.
I do not even feel like teaching my daughter “how to look at the time” or “how to figure Monday to Sunday”. Sooner or later, she is going to learn it. She can not escape. Even if I don’t teach her, the world is going to.
Until then, I just want to enjoy witnessing her organic timeless existence.
