It is a fine
October morning of the year 2013. Fall is here. The leaves have decided to put
forward their best appearance before they bid a goodbye. As the leaves start to
fall, the temperatures are not so far behind. They start falling too. This is
the time when hot sweaty days turn in to pleasant chilly days.
As I sat on
my porch today with a cup of hot tea, a book, a devotional song (Suprabhatam by
MS Subbulakshmi) playing in the background, slightly chilled wind gushing on to
my face in regular intervals and the Sun trying to penetrate through a big tree
near my balcony; I felt BLISS. I wanted the time to stop and experience the
bliss forever.
When I was a
child, we used to visit my grand parents’ place every summer. It is a town
located on the coast of Bay of Bengal. Summers used to be very HOT and HUMID.
So for obvious reasons, we all had our beds made on the terrace. Best parts
were the nights and the early mornings. It used to be pleasantly chilled with
little wind blowing and tall coconut tree leaves and palm tree leaves perfectly
playing the role of an A.C.
The Sun came
out quite early in the morning and I was compelled to wake up. I would unwillingly
wake up and become a zombie. Journey from the terrace to the house used to be
the longest at that point in time. I used to again try to go to sleep but all
my trails would go in vain due to the heat inside the house. As a result I used
to just go to the porch and sit there for a very long time (until my mom started screaming at me for not brushing my teeth).
There’s a
temple located right across the street of my grandparents’ house. Needless to
say, pujas and artis and archanas would start right from the start of the day.
The ‘Suprabhatam’ played every morning and was a pure melody to the ears. The
wind played its part perfectly and made the mornings heavenly.
The bliss I
experienced today was no different than what I experienced then. Just that, I
never really appreciated what I had when I was a child. And today when I am
past all that I truly miss it and treasure it.
My
grandparents’ house holds a very special place in my heart. Although my grandpa
has now rented the house to someone else, I always have an urge to go there and
relive all the moments.
The house is
small yet it accommodated 3 – 4 families that paid a visit to it. We were a
bunch of 4 cousins who met during every summer vacation and made the best of
it. The house had a big backyard with numerous coconut trees. Toilets were located
at the rear end of the backyard and the bathroom was right outside the house.
Trips to the toilet were always fun and adventurous, especially after dark.
Every
morning after freshening up, my grandpa used to pluck coconuts from the trees
in our backyard and give us coconut water and coconut meat. After which he used
to go to the market (on his red Kinetic) and get us seafood – prawns, fish, and
crabs.
In the
meanwhile, all the ladies would chit chat and do the household work. And we kids would run around and play endlessly.
We used to
have relatives visiting our place throughout the day. The house was always filled
with people and love.
As the
summer vacation came to an end, we all bade goodbye to our grandparents and the
house with a heavy heart and teary eyes.
It was
around 7 years back when I bade goodbye to that house and didn't get a chance
to be a part of it since. Nevertheless, the memories I have of it are
priceless. We might not be in that house, but our family is still closely woven
and we've made some new memories of being together.
Change is
the only thing that remains constant. Although we hesitate to a change in the
beginning, we do embrace it as time passes by. And it’s again time for a
change. Even though we change houses, cities, countries; the love we feel in
meeting our loved ones never changes. It only grows stronger.
Love to love
and don’t hesitate to a change. By following these one can always experience
BLISS.
