Of giggling times and sunny days

“Just a few more days and two more subjects to go and then and then you can relax, watch TV , play with the neighbours as much as you want to”, Ma would announce . I and my brother would then start visualizing how the week after these gruelling examinations days would be and how soon we could afford to wake up late, go where we want to and race to the TV to grab a look at our favourite programmes most importantly the Sundays kid’s shows and forget we ever had books to torment us. Then off course, the preeminent part would be making a customary trip to all of our cousin’s place one after one, who would eagerly anticipate our arrival and fetch the latest blockbuster movie cassettes which was to be religiously watched together. Yes, it was precisely a decade and a half ago, when the heat of the summers did not really perturb us as they do now. It never mattered how humid it was as long as we could run around ‘aitas’ soft and damp playground and pick up flowers under the bokul tree and constantly keep our ears on the guard to identify a motor car’s sound which would mean that some of our siblings had just made their entry in the airy house full of places to run around and hide. It never mattered how we dressed and taking ‘hand me downs’ from out cousins were something that we cherished. Celebrating new years together or pulling each other’s leg was all too playful and very often a very regular joke from someone or a silly mistake we would leave us in a fit of laughter where we would be gasping for breathe. Yes , it was summers, the time to relax and let go of our performances in the first halves of the year. While ‘aita’ would be on her toes to see if we were all safe after running round and round the house playing hide and seek, our parents would discuss our messy wardrobes and irritating habits, and we still managed to promise each other plans of hide out together. Idolising and seeking attention from the elder ones and later enacting popular soaps with overdose of drama, hogging over the delectable pickles left out in the sun to dry and then going for a little snack drive, laced with a little exaggerated stories of our elders were the unadulterated pleasures untouched by the names of names of big cities, brands, social networks or expenses. When we enjoyed all the weddings we hardly realised that members of the family were moving out one by one. We were young and we imagined utopia with each other. This summer it suddenly felt like my first summer where the solace the AC’s and the happier moments were the quite sophisticated dinners outside. Agreed summers are getting unbearable but not simple because of the melting glaciers or the rising temperatures but also because of the lost paradise found under the gleaming sun of yesteryears.