Few Cherished Childhood Memories

 I was fortunate enough to have a childhood that was full of memorable times. Among them a few stand out, more for their verve and enthusiasm than anything else.

The summer vacations were undoubtedly the best time of the year; a time when two, (well, actually it was one and a half) months stretched out before me like the never-ending horizon, the hot Delhi summers notwithstanding. We were a group of five younger children and four older ones. Evenings meant playtime and I would find myself inevitably in the midst of one game or the other during those hot and dry months of May and June. Our parents could never understand why the extreme heat (Delhi summer temperatures can touch 45 degrees Celsius) never bothered us or made us ill. Even the hot dry winds call Loo (I saw it mentioned even in my Geography school textbook) never made us cringe even though most people were put off by the omnipresent dust that the Loos would generously blow about.

I still fondly remember the exciting times we had on the playground and while swinging as threesomes on the swings (two of us would stand on the swing facing each other while a third sat down on the swing in-between), not giving a thought to the possibility that the swing might break under the combined weight of three healthy young children. Then, there are the times we played hide-and-seek, especially during the dusk and late evenings with the seekers usually breaking out in sweat with the fear of other children pouncing on them in the darkness. Playing Pitthoo is another fond memory and one of my favorite sports that I cherish till today. The times of numerous festivals like Holi, Dusshehra, Diwali, Rakshabandhan, and Navratris are also etched in my memory even now. Mu favorite is definitely the Dusshehra festival with the big colorful effigies of Raavan being set up and filled with hay, paper and 'patakaas' or firecrackers. There would be a few fellows dressed up as Lord Ram and Lord Laxman who would enact a short extract from the Ramayana right before the kiiling of Raavan. We would go and stand right in front of the effigy (albeit at a safe distance) as being children and small in height we would not be blocking any grown up's view. As soon as the flaming arrow left from Lord Ram's bow and struck the Raavan effigy the area would erupt in loud sounds of the firecrackers going off. The crowd gathered would stand entranced and not until the last of the firecrackers had burned and erupted would anyone move from their place.

I also remember the times we used to play ‘Statue’ on the little patch of grass in front of my best friend’s house. We would laugh hysterically and shout in glee even as we all slumped together into the grass while the tears ran down our faces. There were also the unforgettable times of swinging on the wooden swing tied by strong ropes to a splendorous mango tree that gave thick shade to the children as they played unmindful of the weather under the generous canopy of the tree.

Then, there was this time that I did something daring and dangerous, (and rather silly in hindsight). There were two of us - my best friend and I - and we did the unthinkable of climbing up a wall next to a wooden door of another friend’s house. The top of the wall was narrow and we had to be extra careful not to fall off. We walked coolly onto the roof and while coming back saw a rather unforgettable sight of the neighborhood bully (a boy about six years older than us younger children) being chased by his broom-wielding mother shouting at him to go and take his bath. The unforgettable thing was that he was stark naked and cried like a baby as his belligerent mother chased him all around their inner courtyard.

These memories will never go away, although they might become dim with time. In these times of the digital age when we are surrounded by screens of all types and don't get the inclination to physically spend time with our friends and family, I wish I could go back to my childhood and relive those carefree and fun times all over again - times when we locked our arms with each other and roamed the lanes and playgrounds without a care in the world. Time however flows lineally and can can never run back, and we can only seek comfort in nostalgia of a bygone era.