Memories Unperished

Sometimes a thought or an old lost song sparks memories and takes us down the nostalgic lane.

What was it running bare feet in the scorching sun??? Or a thorn pricking in the feet??? Neither the prick was painful nor the scorching heat called sunstroke. Swimming for hours without caring for about the sun tan or red eyes after we came out of the water or diving deep down to remove a 10paise coin and teaching the siblings to swim like us.

A sneak in the neighbor’s garden to swipe mangoes and guavas. Get it home and tell mom that we got it for her so that she can make pickle and get a spanking of a lifetime because we stealed…. but it hardly hurt. The taste of the wild berries we could just gulp before washing them and thanked Mother Nature for giving this in abundance.

The great sense of achievement when we learnt to cycle by ourselves after falling and tripping so many times and then cycle all over the neighborhood from morning to late evening trying all sort of acrobats leaving your feet off the pedal and zoom down the steep slope was so brave a feeling. The adrenaline rushes when we took high swings and everything around looked small and cousins looking at us in awe.

Rainwater gutters, which overflowed during the rain and carried leaves, flowers, twigs and guppy fishes. To catch these guppy fishes was such a task and when accomplished, the guppies were prized assets.
Climbing the tallest trees and sitting on one of its branches with a small piece of chikki in sticky and soiled hands, tasted yum!! Chatting with the birds and then jumping from the branch and running behind the butterflies and keeping the glow worms in the match box were all tales of innocence…all this without a bandage on self was an incomplete picture.

Height of luxury??? Well two pillows in between the arms of chair and snug in your favorite godhadi (Cover), which could be made up of grandmother’s old cotton saris, which had all the warmth of the universe. Felt like an emperor on the throne. Wow!!! Simple pleasures of life.

The list would go on and nostalgia mixed with emotion would roll incessantly. Alas!!!! These are but thoughts now…………
And what transpired all this was one of my favorite ghazal


Yeh daulat bhi lelo, Yeh shoharat bhi lelo
Bhale cheen lo mujhse meri jawaani
Magar mujhko lautaado bachpan ka saawan
Wo kaagaz ki kashti, Woh baarish ka pani

Muhalle ki sabse nishaani purani
Wo budhiyaa jise bachche kahete the nani
Wo nani ki baaton mein pariyon kaa deraa
Wo chahere ki jhuriyon mein sadiyon ka pheraa
Bhulaae nahin bhool saktaa hai koi
Wo choti si raatein Wo lambi kahaani

Kadi dhoop mein apne ghar se nikalna
Wo chidiyaa Wo bulbul Wo titalii pakadana
Wo gudiyaa ki shaadi mein ladna jhagadanaa
Wo jhoolon se girana Wo gir ke sambhalanaa
Wo piital ke chhallon ke pyaare se tohafe
Wo tooti hui chudiyon ki nishaani

Kabhi ret ke unche tiilon pe jaanaa
Gharaunde banaana banaake mitaanaa
Wo masoom chahat ki tasveer apni
Wo kwaabon khayalon ki jaagir apni
Na duniyaa kaa gham tha na rishton ke bandhan
Badi khoobsurat thi Wo Zindagaanii

Once a child was asked, ‘ Child how would you like to travel? A bike, a car, a ship or an aero plane??” The child without a blink said at my mothers hip…

How much ever we grow we always long to be small……….