Mornings....

Spring is in the air,
I wake up in excitement,
Today is Val Day...
Will I get a card or not???
A cuckoo is singing somewhere...
Getting ready for school...
No mean feat for a teenager,
That too on such a special day...
Spring is in the step...
Excitement in the heart...
In search of eternal love, Archies card and heart shaped chocolates...
Ah to be fourteen again!

I remember waking up in the crisp winter morning to see sunshine streaming through the window....
I would snuggle into my blanket and refuse to open my eyes...
Ma would come and hurry me up...
She would throw me a sweater and say 'wear this or you will catch the cold'...
My toes would tingle the moment it would touch with the cold floor...
My slippers would be found and thrust under my feet...
Ushered to the bathroom...blue bloob of toothpaste...I still remember the smell and the minty taste...
Breakfast would have something orangey-- either the fruit or marmalade...
And then of you are lucky and in the middle of winter vacation, you could play...
There would be promises of circus or a trip to the zoo with Amit and Rima...
Ah those lovely winter mornings of the my childhood....

Excitement wakes me up early...
Examinations over and holidays have started....
Infinitely long days, with not a single homework...
I cannot help but smile...
Days of playing with Rima and Amit to heart's content...
Lazy afternoons of chinese checker games with Ma....
Mangoes in great abundance...
Eat as much as you can...
When you dont want the fruit, have the puddings, milkshakes, ice creams...

Go to sleep lulled by the sound of rain...
Wake up to the incessant sound of rain...
Feel snug and warm...
Realise dad has at some point put the fan's regulator down...
Smile at this gesture of love...
Kakoli comes with the tea, sets it down...
Sip the tea, while staring out of the window...
Not many people around...
A few children braving it to school...
The lone office goer trying to balance the bag, the umbrella and failing miserably...
Some cars and bikes dash by...
Stare at the fat angry rain drops...
Look upto the sky...
It looks dark grey, omniuos and threatening...
Occassional thunder streaks the sky...
Blinding me momentarily...
The city seems to be in a standstill, waiting for the rain to cease...
The houses look washed and forlon...
The trees look like they have had enough...
They seem to be telling the rain, 'oh stop we have had enough, now we are feeling cold...'
But who cares, Rain God has decreed rain that day...
So the little army of rain drops march on, bravely pours over the city and rushes into the drains...
I watch on, secure in the knowledge that I am not going out that day...

Wake up to the distant sound of music....
It is floating by from somewhere...
Ah it is Mahalaya today...
So the 4 a.m. programme has started on the radio...
Yahooooo pujo is just seven days away...
Much, much later, warm smell wakes me up...
Special breakfast for Mahalaya...
Come on hurry up if you do not want the kochuri and the jilipi to get cold...
Laughter and plans for pujo,
Everyone in good spirits...
Some last minute shopping,
Ma suggests,
Baba cringes...,
The sky outside is blue with fluffy white clouds floating by,
I fee safe and warm and excited..