Today while playing hide and seek,

We realised there weren’t plenty of places to hide;

Neither tree trunks, nor slides inside,

How in the world do we even pass our time?

It’s been ages that missy went outside,

or ran after a detached kite,

She doesn’t know any kids her age,

and doesn’t know the fun of summer break!

She hides inside on seeing a new face,

Only house helps are her saving grace…

I remember when we were her age,

We used to look forward to summer days!

Climbing up the tree and cycling unceasingly,

everything done assiduously!

The fun it was, to stay back at granny’s place,

and laze around reading,

Tintin, Asterix & Obelix the entire day!

Video game parlours were always full,

and life in summers was never dull!

We used to wait in excitement for the candy floss man,

And ran like maniacs behind the ice cream van.

The evenings were spent not in the park but fields,

where each had occupied space for their teams;

Cricket & soccer were the obvious sports,

nevertheless, someone always chalked out the ground for pitthu & stappo.

Evenings came and so did all the mums to the ground,

they sat on the bench and gossiped around;

the summers I remember were crazy and warm,

it makes me nostalgic but I remember most of the smells and sound!

I remember how my friends called me from 3 blocks away,

Their persistent shrieks would always brighten my day…

I remember the smell that encroached the veranda to reach my room,

The beautiful white ‘raat ki rani’, spread across the garden, in full bloom.

These are all recollections of my summer memories,

I am scared missy would have a different experience than this.

The times have changed, and I pray they change again,

Before she grows up, I want to live it all with her,

Once again!