Memoirs......

As I sit by the window on this hot summer afternoon, I take the privilege of journeying down the memory lane into the boulevard of my childhood.The hustle bustle of the doctors and nurses around me didn’t matter at all as I sunk into the whirlpool of memories. The array of bouquets reminded me of the lovely garden we had at my mama’s place.  Summer vacation meant a visit to Mama’s place, my maternal uncle’s home. We had a lavish widespread garden accentuated with innumerable trees and bushes. All carefully planted and looked after by my grandfather. Summer afternoons were the noisiest part of the day when the cacophony of our gang of cousins almost brought the roof down ! I remember one such instance when we were playing near a well in our garden and the ball went spiraling down into it . Immediately , I , the bravest of all volunteered to bring it up with the help of the pail used to fetch water from within the well. While trying to ensure that the floating ball fitted into the bucket, I bent a little too much and almost toppled over ! My feet were almost dangling in the air while desperately I tried to maneuver the ball , ( which by the way was playing truant and kept irritating me by constantly floating away into all other directions except into the bucket! ) Suddenly I felt a pair of hands grasping me tightly around my hip and pulling me back quickly. I still remember the ashen face of my grandmother as she saved me from a fatal accident ! The sudden pull at my arms jerked me back to the present when I found myself clasping the fingers of the same person ! I looked up to see the same colorless face again , but this time due to prolonged illness. Her eyes were shut tight , but there was a faint smile on her lips. Gently I stroked her snow white hair while tears filled my eyes . My darling grand mom ‘s voice echoed in my ears . Those nights when the entire neighborhood plunged into darkness due to power cuts, we huddled around her in the light of the lamp to get mesmerized by her stories . She inculcated values like honesty, kindness, forgiveness so intricately through her stories. Those magical nights haunt me time and again . “ Time to go miss, the visiting hours are over ,” the nurse chirped in. With a sigh I planted a light kiss on my grand mom’s forehead and wheeled my chair out of the room.