The whole deal about mangoes ;)

I remember watching "Mirza Ghalib", with nana, starring Nasirruddin Shah, it was quite a sought after movie in those days, or it appeared to be as nana was super excited about watching it. Though I couldn't understand the heads or tails of it as I was very young, what kept me glued to my place were the delicacies being served to us by my aunt while the movie was on. As the movie proceeded, there was a scene in which the protagonist had a bucket full of mangoes dipped in water, and everyone around was busy taking in the sweet flavour and enjoying every bit of it, even the peels weren't spared and were flattened to perfection..all of a sudden nana gave out a loud exclamation.."See! This is how we are supposed to eat mangoes, after dipping them overnight in a bucket full of water!" "Look child", he looked at me, "ask your mother to dip mangoes in a bucket of water, so that you don' t have to suffer the boils your refrigerated mangoes invite."
I could see nana's mouth watering at the sight of mangoes, while I enjoyed my favourite mango squash, indifferent to the boil terror the adult world endorsed.
Be it sugar canes or mangoes, every fruit was celebrated like a festival. Grandma made arrangements for the slim plastic knit beds called "folding",to be laid in her huge courtyard as the whole family collected with a bucket placed next to each bed, and everyone enjoyed the sweet delights of nature while me and my cousins being stupid kids, ignorant about the joys of the famous fruit, ran around the courtyard, contributing to the festive feel of the day.
On my recent visit I saw, that the same courtyard has now shrunk to an unrecognisable size, coz the whole place has embraced the ever changing times, but when I sat down and closed my eyes, the air smelt of the same old fruit, as memories flashed back like a pack of cards piling up within, happily, I laid them out through my mind and savoured the taste of the most cherished days of my life :)

Toying A Special Bond

As a kid I've had a special bonding with toys, especially dolls or one can say mostly with dolls. On every birthday my wish list would start with a doll and would end on one! "What do you want for your birthday?"- A doll was the quick reply!!
I have no count of the amount of dolls my Nani (grandma) had gifted me on my birthdays, yes, later on with the ascending flavour of age , the request moulded itself into pretty dresses and other stuff, but it sure for a quick halt, as one fine day my love for dolls came to a abrupt end :(, when a friend told me that dolls wake up and walk around the house....Grrrrr!! I was so angry with her for breaking my loving bond with the plastic mortal..but that was that....
Before the ghastly secret was revealed to me, dolls were my friends, soul mate, a great confession box for all the naughty childhood deeds that I was a part of.
I still remember the fragrance of a new doll, it was a very happy feeling, like a new book with fresh brown cover and new labels- though they couldn't beat the dolls, as with time books smelt more like enemies than friends ;)
Nani's presents used to be wrapped in a neat newspaper, she would announce her entry into the house and would give me a big hug and would hand over the neatly newspapered doll, I on my part always acted surprised about the present though I very well knew that there was a doll inside :)
Certain feelings can only be enjoyed as a child coz I think that's when we are more conscious and vocal about our feelings, with maturity a row of dos and dont's stuff themselves in our natural behaviour...But sometimes we do like to just let go, turning into a four year old, happy to be able to enjoy life!
Emotions colour our life in such a way, that each colour mingles together and creates a magical hue to spread a big smile on our face :)