UNBUDGETED INNOCENCE by Gauarv Sharma

Children are the most innocuous of the human beings. They know no pretensions or exaggeration. They are what they look. And as Mr. Gaurav Sharma, the author of “Love @ Airforce”, “Rapescars” , “Dawn at Dusk” sums up, “Childhood is no less than a fairy tale. Even vices like greed, jealousy, and naughtiness are innocent during that period.”

Keeping the thoughts in mind, Mr. Sharma decided to pen down different facets of childhood and the brainchild of his thoughts is “Unbudgeted Innocence”.

It is a collection of ten stories which cover different elements of childhood and take all of us back to our childhood, our truer self.

The first story, THE ABANDONED DOG, showcases children’s love for animals. Through this story, Mr. Sharma tries to convey that children’s love knows no practicality. Their love for their pets gives them the strength to fight with the whole world. They are filled with more responsibility and morality than we conclude. As the story moves towards the end, the readers get to know that a heart, when pure, is beyond repair.

“BRINGING OUT THE BEST IN EACH OTHER” is about mutual interdependent relationship and defines new facet of friendship. The story has the capability to crawl very softly into our little readers’ minds and implants a very strong thought which is potent enough to last for their entire lifetime.

“THE TERRIFIC TEN” is an innocent anecdote of childhood zeal for adventure and their high ideals. It slowly takes us back in time and connects us to our childish self who was equally adventurous and innocent.

"THE WOUNDED PLAYER" is about team spirit and sportsmanship. It introduces the undying spirit of children like Rashmi. Rashmi’s team dedicating their victory to her is the best example of sportsmanship.

"THE UNREQUITED FRIENDSHIP" is about true spirit and value of friendship. Gautam realizes the value of true friendship a hard way but after that he cherishes it forever. Srikant is the pure-hearted friend here, who wins over Gautam’s rudeness by his selfless friendship.

"THE BIOLOGY PROJECT" is a fantasy story which reflects the soft side of children towards animals.  Sanju’s respects for animals and value for their life is commendable and he gets rewarded for it by his Biology teacher.

"THE TEMPLE ATOP THE HILL" is a story about children’s courage and their consistency to follow the right path. They fight their own fears and fight against superstitions as well.

"MANAGING THE POCKETMONEY" is more of a moral science lesson than a story. The story tells about the situations when little negligence could bring disasters. Children who read this story would never forget it.

"GUILT" is the story of children’s self-conscience and their realization of self-mistake. The story tells that children are too pure-hearted to get past their guilt. They always try to find a way to mend their mistakes.

"THE BLUE COAT" is about children’s financial awareness and how their initial understanding of savings.

The book is very sweet and I am thankful to Mr. Gaurav Sharma for giving me an opportunity to re-live my childhood. The only thing which I wish to mention is the usage of comparably tough words in the book given its target readership viz. children. Since it is a children’s storybook, the language wasn’t required to be so tough. However, another aspect of the book could be to improve children’s vocabulary. I find the latter one more relevant since the author is a teacher himself and his yearning to influence people’s life reflects in the book.

I once again thank Mr. Gauarv Sharma for this book. This is surely going to be one of the best gifts to my young one. 

Thank you, Gaurav Sir!