July 6, 2021

village and childhood

Looking back on life, the time of childhood was the best time. When we were little and the tress, houses, sun, sky, moon and stars all of it was a little bit higher for us. And this world still has magic in it. The village provides an outstanding aura every time we went back there.

The village then, use to be primitive with no telephone towers in vicinity, let alone electricity cables. It was greener and with almost every house made of mud and tin. People use to travel with cycles. The only form of entertainment was provided by radios, the common shop, and a loan TV at a tea stall by the main road (only the roadsides had electricity poles)

A common day pattern of my vacations at village were like this: wake up early; get fresh; go for an early morning walk(greeting the already awake village men); stop by aunt eela’s house(one of my four aunts whose married in our own village); have breakfast there; play around with the livestock chill at the bridge; meet up with friends of my age and immediately start a world cup tournament; return home laughing and sweaty; get bathed; have lunch and nod off till evening; wake up; get fresh; go to aunts house again; return by 7:30 p.m.; have dinner and sleep. The village though lucrative was only so during the day. Chasing the wind by the fields containing sprouts in the crystal-clear water. On encountering a crane on the way back home. Or on some days driving off at the cool pool of the irrigation motor house, climbing trees and the eye feasting scene from a high vent-age point from where the clouds seemed closer.

Playing countless matches until we were all wiped out by fatigue. But, as the height drew in the trees and the animals shriveled up, the goats and the cows returned home, the men too accumulated in groups, dance on the bed and in between hang on the windows looking up to the farthest corner of the entry lane. If we were bored out too much, we would go sit under the guava tree by the animals shed, just beside Birbal das house. We called that tree the magnet tree as it attracted a lot of wind. We also use to joke by stating everybody that they were in night. They would jump up and the chairs out, and start making tea and run someone to get biscuits from the nearby shop.

The following events were interesting when, finally they did arrive we would all exchange pleasantries and our cousins would go out to play. Coming back hot grevillols meat curry would be waiting for us. And after eating we would all chill under the guava magnet tree. During night we would all sleep in the verandah and giggle jokes. Rainy days had yet another charm. We would bath in the showers and go to collect rain flowers and run paper boats in the small rivers of the gullies. Village has always been a place to shut down all the nervousness and stress of city life and a doorway to connect to nature. The village somehow feels as a deep-down memory that is in the core of our hearts. May be if I come to hate everything in this world, I would love only my village.

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

If you are interested in participating in the same, do let me know.

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