Summer, rains & childhood

It's nearly mid August and the rains are receding here. After my first post, I wonder what kept me from posting the next. I remember to have read some where that rains generally spread a sense of depression amongst people. It is another thing that I've never really enjoyed them as a season.

My childhood days were spent in Bangalore. At grandparents' house, it was sheer mayhem with all kids being at their naughtiest best! Be it running along the long garden paths that my gran'pa just cleaned, or the loud chattering songs being a nuisance to them. Somehow, it never occured to us, the brat pack, that it was mostly anger inducing. To make matters worse for the elders, every scolding urged us to look for more ways of mischief!

Outdoor games were a rage with the young crowd. Be it cricket on an inclined road (which on retrospect was quite dangerous) or badminton in breezy evenings, or even just throwball during hot afternoons. And after it was dark enough to make it completely impossible for us to spot the ball or the shuttle cock, we looked heavenwards as there lay a terrace. It was spacious enough with little light bulbs here and there for helping visibility. Then used to begin all kinds of contact sports! Catch, lock and key, crocodile colors, and what not. I do not remember even a single day when one willingly said, 'Let's call it a day'. We always had to be pulled down by some loud voice of a curt elder.

Bangalore summers were mostly followed by rains. Sometimes, one lost count of how many days it had been since the rains began. They rained heavily, and tapered to a drizzle all in one day. Quite unpredictable it was, just as the English rains- I remember one elder who remarked so. Rains were the biggest spoilers of all plans. Be it shopping for ma and aunts, regular office work for dad and uncles, or for the special eateries gran'ma made that had to be necessarily dried for the best output! We used to be heart broken as along with being a hindrance to outdoors, it also meant long, unscheduled power cuts. No electricity, meaning no television, meaning candle light dinners. And long pauses in conversations!

Since those days, rains have been a constant fellow traveller in my life. I've experienced summers and rains in various parts of the country, but the time spent in Bangalore has been priceless! So is childhood.