There is a story where an old man asks his daughter-in-laws about which season they liked most. The youngest and also the smartest of them had given a politically correct answer that every season is equally good and has its own place in the meteorological cycle. If the same question were asked to me few years ago (around 15 to be more accurate) my answer would have been “summer”. The choice has been greatly influenced by the fact that the most part of the whole season starting from mid-March to end June is the time when our schools were closed or we used to have morning sessions only i.e from 7.00 AM to 11.00 AM. That means less time to study and more time for fun. During morning sessions of our schools we would eagerly wait for the closing bells to ring and then throwing the bags at home would straight away run to the nearest mango yard. The activity of falling mangoes with stones required great aim, stamina, strength and of course “stones”, which would become scarce as the season progresses. At times we would ferry stones bound in our towels from the near by river bed to meet the demand supply gap. As long as the stones last or till some elder scold us we would continue to aim at the mangoes, most of the times without success. But as we grew older our strike rate had improved significantly. After reaching the river the dive into the cold and deep water used to be the most satisfying moment of the whole day. All the children of the village would play variety of games inside deep water. The adroit swimmer of course would win all the time. Back from the river, it would be time for lunch which was followed by an afternoon siesta (a much longer version of siesta to be accurate). The evenings were spent playing cricket / marbles (and a variety of games whose names I can’t remember). The next day the same routine gets repeated. After the schools declared summers holiday it would be all fun for whole two months. I used to spend most part of our holidays at our uncles. We had neither TV nor electricity for any sort of entertainment. The hot afternoons were spent reading books and playing indoor games. In the night, all the children would sleep in the open courtyard surrounded by elders. The grandmothers used to entertain (and scare) us with a variety of stories, and we didn’t know when we would sleep under the open sky with the cool summer breeze around. Although the stories were repeated every year, they were never a bit less fascinating. On other days we would count stars, locate the pole star and some time follow the moving stars (I didn’t know that time that they are called satellites) till they disappear. Sometimes before sleep, I and my elder sister would count no of vehicles passing through a bridge nearby our home. We would own one of the directions and the number of vehicles passing from ones’ direction to other’s used to be the score. The game used to continue till one of us fall asleep, and in most of the case it was me. We used have early mornings because of two major reasons. First, because the days were longer and hence the sun used to rise early (still rises early, only difference is we don’t witness it these days), second reason was more of a gourmet’s desire. In early morning, we would go to the mango yard to collect ripe fallen mangoes from the previous night. The earlier you go the fuller your bags would be from the tastier trees. In the afternoon we used have competitions among children as well as adults to finish off the mangoes collected. It was great fun. Summers also meant for us to have spare time to read. We used buy a variety of story books and magazines for the whole two months. I am still reaping the benefits from the habit of reading.
As I have grown older the summer also seems to have become hotter. There are neither schools nor holidays. The only place I find a mango is at the vegetable shops that too artificially ripen by Acetylene. The cold river stream has been replaced by tap water. I don’t play with friends. Air conditioned rooms have replaced the cool open air beds. I haven’t seen the pole star and I haven’t followed a moving star since ages. And also grand ma’s stories these days don’t scare me to sleep anymore.I wish if I could live those days again…..
(And in the meantime Delhi Daredevils have kept themselves alive in IPL-3 by beating the Chennai Super Kings).
rabindra
16th April 2010, 0030 Hours.
