Family Fun!

This long weekend brought with it fever and cold for me. Oblivious to the new year's eve, I was busy rubbing Vicks! Though, when the fireworks exploded, I did know that we had landed in 2010. I have always wondered why the cold-lady likes me so much. Probably the rhino viruses feel homely when they enter my body. Anyways, with the viruses flushed today, I was ready to go out. But the 40mph wind and 18 F spoiled the schedule. Me and my roommate then bored, chatted.

The topics varied from marriages to khandeshi khichdi. Its amazing how the discussions proceed linking one topic to other. I remember how we (me and my undergrad classmates) once did a de-linking of all the discussion topics on an exam eve. Though, by the time we finished this, it was already time for exam and the whole night what we did was linking and delinking topics. Guss, that's another story.

Today, while discussing, we recalled how we used to sleep on the terrace or outside during summers. How the whole family used to be together - uncles, aunts, brothers, cousins, nephews, grandparents. It was real fun. We used to make pot-icecreams, sing songs, play cards whole night. Men used to go out get paan for everyone after dinner, women used to gossip in a corner, we kids used to eavesdrop that, the college-goers had their group with their college terminologies. I do not think this happens anymore. With busy life these days, one hardly gets anytime to be with their parents leave alone other relatives.

Grandma story was another fun event for the young generation. Kudos to her imagination! She had a new story every night. We did know how she had pushed in some characters or changed the story or the location a little from the previous night but then the end result was a brand new story! My other grandma had an expertise on Krishna stories. While cooking hot phulkas for us for lunch, she used to tell these extremely witty Krishna stories. How Krishna planted the parijaat plant on Satyabhama's side but the flowers used to sprinkle on Rukmini's side or how Sudama was never forgotten by his beloved friend Krishna.

Summers also remind me of mangoes. Every lunch had mango juice with pure ghee. Whatever juice remained was dried in the sun for mango roti. My childhood summer was blessed with whole range of fruits. My grandpa's place in those days had guava, mango, seetafal, jambhul, bor trees. Some of them exist even today but now no one has the time.

Those soulful days bring with them memories and what remains is the exhilarating fragrance.