An item you were incredibly attached to as a youth.

When I was young, I was incredibly attached with an old radioa Philips three-band, battery-operated model. It worked perfectly fine, but curiosity got the better of me one day, and I decided to open it up.

By the time I screwed the last nut back in place, the radio started misbehaving. After days of tinkering, I managed to fix itbut at a cost. The back cover broke, leaving my beloved radio exposed. Refusing to give up, I improvised. I mounted all the parts onto a wooden board, secured the batteries with nails, soldered the wires together, and, to my amazement, the radio came back to life.

It looked like a messa Frankenstein’s monster with an antennabut I loved it nonetheless. That radio became my window to the world. I spent countless hours listening to the BBC, Voice of America, All India Radio, the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Each station brought stories, music, and voices from far-off lands, broadening my horizons in ways I never imagined.

Fast forward to two years ago. While rummaging through boxes in the attic, I stumbled upon the remnants of that radio. The parts were still nailed to the wooden board, covered in dust and corroded in places. For old times’ sake, I flipped the switches. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t work. But holding it again transported me back to those magical moments of discovery and connection.

I closed the box and left the attic, leaving the radio in its slumber. Perhaps someday, another curious soul will stumble upon it, like a scene from Jumanji, and breathe new life into that battered relic of my youth.