By Aparajita Singh
@
writewhatyoufeel
Sweat soaked school shirts,
drying automatically
when the hot- loo wind blew,
to be drenched in sweet sweat again,
when we ran, with full speed,
to buy kala khatta, outside our school.
Oh, the relief.
But nothing like the Aam panna
that Amma made,
raw mangoes- rock salt- cumin
and a pinch of cardamom,
for the soul.
Making the to-do-list,
of places and games to be played,
with cousins at Nani's place.
Vacations starting mid-May,
were awaited by all.
Eagerly.
Annually.
Water Parks and tanning marks,
were favourites back then.
Also, light-shade coloured clothes
and hair cuts , were a must,
Adults-of-the- house said.
Adults.
Reality revives me from nostalgia.
Now I leave for Office
before it even begins to warm up.
Metro has temperature regulators.
Lucknow, is far away from Delhi
and so is the home-made aroma
-of green mango drinks.
And resfreshing mint chutneys.
May-June- July ,
all are spent working inside a cubicle.
Daily agendas include work
of twenty-five hours plus.
Incentives added to Salary.
Shades matter more,
And so does hair cuts.
You see,
there's an implied dress code,
for grown-ups working in corporates.
Sometimes, I wonder,
are kids nowadays just the same,
or are they actually busy on play stations
and clicking selfies, as rumours claim?
Do they play cricket under the scorching Sun,
And chase away the gardener
and his daily complaints?
Do they expect the timely
patches of monsoon shower
after this,
to sail their tiny paper boats ?
Or have we,
-the industry promoters
ruined the climate, so much,
that they're deprived of
our most cherished and beloved
-Great Indian Summer.
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This poem won in Instagram Weekly Contest held by @delhipoetryslam on the theme 'Indian Summer'
Thank you Aditi 🙏 much love💛
Beautiful poem, fellow Lucknowite! 😊
Beautiful poem, fellow Lucknowite! 😊