Those sweet summer days and nights

How many of our present-day children get to look at the night sky and the stars?

When we were young we faced dog-days boldly like lion cubs. We had neither air-conditioners nor refrigerators. To tell the truth we did not have even a ceiling fan above our heads. We fought summer thirst with water from earthen pots. We spent our daytime playing under a pair of two huge makizham tree which stood in our backyard. Their thick foliage turned the hot summer sun into the springtime full moon. They not only gave us shade but also showered on our heads their tasty, orange-coloured, fragrant fruits. When it comes to shade, people talk highly about mango and neem trees. As far as I have experienced, the shade of a makizham tree is the coolest and the thickest.

We used to wear during summer only half-trousers, leaving the upper portion of our bodies also bare. Parents of many of my playmates never allowed their male children to wear shirts during summer.

At 11 a.m. we would assemble under the

makizham trees and start our games. We would play a game or two with tops and then take our turns at the crude swing suspended from the tree branch.

At noon we would retreat to the pumpset near our well to bathe in the cool water to our heart's content. A big tub from which water used to overflow in cascades was our swimming pool. The well we had in our house was hardly 30 feet deep. It sat on an inexhaustible water table. Daily during the hot months there used to take place a competition between the motor of the plumpest and the well. The motor would try its best to render the well dry. But the well always defeated the motor by producing more water through a number of weeping holes, more than the amount of water the motor could pump out. Even now, after many years, whenever I recall my childhood summer days my heart gets filled with gratitude for that well-wisher well.

Summer nights, which we spent on the terraces of our houses, were unforgettably sweet. Our supper consisted of only simple stuff such as upma , and butter milk-rice with lemon pickle, but when we ate them under the star-studded night sky they became so tasty and hearty. Talking among ourselves about school, games and friends, we would slide into sleep one by one. Sometimes we would wake up in the middle of the night to find ourselves being silently and lovingly gazed upon by the moon. How many of our present-day children look at the night sky and the stars? There is zero interaction with nature.

We parents lock them away from the Sun, Moon, Wind and Rain, great gifts of God. Life’s journey was undoubtedly easier when we walked holding mother nature’s hand.

mr.m.r.anand@gmail.com