Winters and the Terrace : Childhood Memories & a Journey Back in Time!

The pleasure you experience on a warm sunny winter morning, the first day of your vacation, is directly proportional to the magnitude of slogging you did prior to the vacation. As I looked up, soaking up the sunlight and the mildly cool wind on the Boxing Day morning on my terrace, life seemed wonderful. A cup of tea made by mom, a copy of Times of India – Lucknow edition, and some similar scenes at my neighbors’ houses acted as just the perfect recipe to revive lots of childhood nostalgia.

I realized, at that moment, how special the terrace of my home is. Winters spent on this terrace engulf more childhood memories than the rest of my house combined. My first memory of this place dates back to Kindergarten. The school was nearby, and mom, accompanied by my younger brother on his prized tricycle, would pick me up in the afternoon. As soon as I reached home, I rushed for the terrace. We would lie down on a mattress, and soon my mom brought sliced guavas sprayed with pepper. They have never tasted that good since. We then raced our collection of toy cars – brimming with excitement. The silver jaguar always won the race.

There was a story unfolding in every direction one could see. An old gentleman sipping coffee while reading the newspaper, a neighborhood aunty scolding her daughters to complete their homework, the distant sound of Radio City playing in someone’s kitchen – all these were common occurrences.

Perhaps the most pungent memory is that of a part of the wall which acted as the cricket wicket when my brother and I played. An occasional bouncer went over the terrace boundary, and we waited for some pedestrian or sabzi wala to come and throw the ball back. Some dubious appeals for bowled or leg before wicket were triggers to intense fights, often leading to the person who batted first abandoning the match and walking away. The spots made by the ball repeatedly hitting that part of the wall are now hidden under numerous coats of paint but are etched firmly in my mind.

I don’t generally go back and relive the past, but today – the weather, the mood, and some familiar sightings made me time travel and realize how eventful times spent up there actually were.