Good Old Summer Days!!!

Last Sunday I was at one of my friend’s place and was just peeping through the small window in his apartment. It was a sunny day just like any other scorching summer day. I stood for an hour staring at a small old-designed house with an open verandah with around 5-6 kids sitting and playing carrom. Even the parents were sitting besides them and watching them play. As soon as the sun started setting, the kids came out of the house and started playing cricket.

That scene took me back to my childhood – Myself and my 2 younger brothers sitting on the floor around the carom-board with my dad and mom inside the house. All doors and windows closed with curtains pulled to not let the hot air into the house or even a ray of the sun. You could hear the strong hot winds blowing outside. Sipping chilled lassi in the glass we would play for hours and also talk about our friends, school and studies. This was a regular scene each and every day of our Summer holidays.

The only difference would be that carom would sometimes be replaced with Chess, Ludo, Snake and Ladder, Monopoly, Checkers, Scrabble or Brainvita. And instead of cold lassi we might be relishing nimbu pani or sattu mixed in water with salt and lemon or the evergreen ruhafza or Rasna or watermelon or some sharbat, custard or icecream.

As the sun would start setting we would be allowed to sneak out of the house to the big playground in front of the house or to the terrace. And then would start the evening outdoor game either cricket or badminton with my dad , brothers and the friends in our neighborhood. Those were one of the real moments that we enjoyed in our life and thinking about them really took me back to the good childhood days.

The days when only people that meant to us was our parents and our brothers and sisters. And there’s so much to remember about.