Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Ye Hain Pyar ke Pal

Jasmines,i can smell them, the season is here, i remember home, mom must be going to the terrace every evening to pluck a big basket of these flowers, and then she will make a big gajra and next morning cut them into equal portions and take them to office to give them to her friends, and then watermelons, i can see them all the places and i remember some adv about a refrigerator which has such a nice big portion of melon when opened,i don't know why but i always remember the ad:)
Sugarcane juice and reminds me of my college in Hyd, my colleague always sent the attender to bring ganne ka ras for everyone all summer, the staff room was stuffy,small and only one fan but every afternoon after classes we used to close the windows and switch off the lights,draw the curtains and make the room semi dark and talk,talk and talk.And one such afternoons we would just hop on to the two bikes,two on each and go eat hot mirchi bajjis and samosa ragda and cool off with dahi wada, in 100rs finish stuffing ourselves and come back to talk more.
And on the last day of college while breaking for holidays used to go to each dept and wish them happy holidays, walking under the trees covering our heads with dupattas or an occassional colorful umbrellas we just forgot it was hot,or we enjoyed the hot summer in our own way may be.
At home amma used to water the plants in the evening,she says it would give some cool breeze,and till 11am we just keep the doors open, and go on to the terrace to pour water to cool it a bit and then put the mattress and lie down to count the stars, we always did it,till the coconut trees would add up to the idle chatter with their gentle ruffling of the leaves, and then some time in the night we drifted off to sleep. And when there were power cuts,i used to sing,yeah,show all my knowledge to my brother, who when in good mood would tolerate my extremely bad rendering of "Utte sabke kada,dekho rampam pum, aji aise geet gaya karo" or "Lakdi ki kaati,kaati pe godha.."
Summer starts with Ugadi" the telugu new year and mom would pluck the new green mango from the garden, the mango leaves tied to the entrance,the banana leaves used to have lunch on the festivities are from our own garden and amma always watered the plants saying its too hot and she would n let them wither away.The garden is always green,any season,with some flower or fruit,someone knocking the gate for either mangoes or coconuts or banana leafs on festivities or functions, someone or the other early morning plucking the flowers near the gate to take them to the temple, mom would be putting rangoli at that time the chatter would start instantly only applyig breaks when both the parties remember that they need to cook and rush to office.. I used to carry a water bottle and an umbrella with me all the time:) fun it was,to have a umbrella and it was always same bus with same couple of friends from same colony and at times same seat also,and those unlucky souls who never got a seat to sit would handover their bags or stuff to us, and we used to gladly accept such from strangers also..it was all so simple,life...
The world which i left behind is still same, mom still does all of it, the ex colleagues still have all the fun, but now i just get an sms as i got one today "We missed you" Well, i miss it all too but then when i mentioned it to mom she just smiled. According to her i still will get the mangoes delivered here,i still get to have the jasmines when i go home later this month, i can still meet the old colleagues when i am there,i can still sleep on the terrace and count the stars and can have my lunch in the banana leaf when i go home,What matters is i need to appreciate such simple pleasures and i can have fun forever... Well,mom thats what i will do for my life, never forget good times so when i meet such times again i always will be able to just start off where i left and can enjoy it all, isn't it? Life is truly simple and beautiful,It takes us a while to understand and appreciate it all.

20 comments:

Stone said...

As usual beautiful post.

I loved the way you focused on positives of summers.

So simple, and surely struck a cord.

Anonymous said...

sometimes we dont recognise its beauty .Iam translating a saying from tamil ." He wont recognize the true value of a shade as long as he is under an umbrella or is not in the sun " . There has been so many moments in my life that i yearn for but sadly never lived it up when i had the chance to .Recognizing the true value of a time is so much difficult ,but may be if we did realize then the looking backs wont make us long/yearn for those moments to come back to us :)

Preeti Shenoy said...

I love the smell of jasmines too--especially 'Gundu malli' :-)

Stone said...

Aur haan, that Adv. was 'Voltas..Voltas' :-)

Sree said...

endello hay hay venello hay hay.. varaala jalley kurisey.. endukey ee post choostey aa paata gurtocchindi.. good one.

jupallis said...

Amma
Aavakai
Aalapana
are simply the best

Srujana said...

A very beautiful post..I could feel all that cool breeze from the coconut trees on the terrace in summer nights.....vooowww what a life it was ...wish I can go back to those days...completely moved and felt very nostalgic....
and as you said aaa andamayina rojulanni nemaruvesukuni...anduloo unna anandanni aswadinchee manasu unte ekkadayina eppudayina oohallo kalallo matalloo aa anubhoothini pondochu...kadaaa :):):)
Baboooi naake chaala ascharyanga intha pedda maatalu raasesaanu....anta nee ratala mahima aalapana....i went into a trance as always...you take me into a different world :):):)

and thanks a lot for leaving the comment on my blog....its an honour to get that from you :):):)...inthaki eppudu hyd velthundi???

Atticus Finch said...

Nice post... Guess we never leave anything in the past behind... The worlds we've lived through just ferment in time to make savory memories we can revisit on rainy afternoons...

Satish Bolla said...

"a simple but meaningful post that reminds everyone of their good times. it has the innocence of a child, maturity of an adult". This is all i can say abt this post. these are the feelings of everyone but only few dare to express them

Hirdu said...

I came, I read, I smiled, I left

Pramod P T said...

thanks to Jayashree, who referred your blog...

nice write up!!

pramod

joy said...

wow a beautiful post takes me back in time and all i can remember are the good ol days.

Anonymous said...

Jasmine is pretty cool to blossom in the dark, glow in the moon light and smell so good. We have a plant in our garden and it makes us feel like...... like...... out of this world :)
R

Arunima said...

Jasmins are considered very auspicious according to Manipuri culture and we use it only for weddings. We don't wear it at all and young unmarried girls don't play with it as they believe that if they don't respect this flower, they won't get married.

The jasmine that we get there have a milder fragrance than the ones found in the south though they look the same.

diya said...

aalapana, thank you for writing a comment on my blog otherwise I would not have been able to find yours. This post brought the tears to my eyes! The beautiful jasmine flowers, out of this world. Which is that tree which is also full of white blossoms? Your blog is full of photos of flowers and trees, I will go through all your posts!
A part of us will always hanker for the days gone by, your mom is right you can experience those when you go home, but it will never be the same again. You must also now make new memories for you to treasure later.
I love plants too I am caring for 27 of them now, it feels great to see each flower and each new leaf that comes out, it fills my heart!

NotFunnyNotFamous said...

Just read your last post.. and have to say one thing.. have been one of those silent readers you have been writing about.. nice post...

Anonymous said...

This post reminds me of nostalgic days of yesteryears...sweet yet sour! Nice post.

srijithunni said...

A beautiful and fragrant post like the jasmine flowers..!

Long time since I dropped in, Glad i did.!

Have Fun, Take Care and God Bless!

With Best Regards,
Srijith.

Usha said...

Hey, sorry about the lapse. Thanks for pointing it out. Rectified. :)

anumita said...

Lovely... memories make life... they tug at our present all the time and leave us yearning to go back while we tread ahead.

 

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