The reminiscence of a childhood…

The day was drawing close to retirement; lifelines were slowly making their beeline back home. It was another of those countless monotonous days in everyone’s life, and hers was nothing less. She turned the keys and walked inside her room; her chosen abode in the maximum city. Exhausted, she went to the bathroom, washed her face and came back in the living room, fresh with a napkin. She drew a chair towards the balcony and settled down on it, catching a few breaths; cursing the agonizing traffic of the city. The quadrangle in her society was bustling with action; children were making the best of the last few minutes before the sun would dip down across the smoggy horizons and the frustrated mothers would vocally drag them in-house. Tiny tots rushing around, screaming with glee; their innocent voices took her on a journey years back… she was one of them, running around, hiding behind the pillars, and anxiously waiting that chance to run across the hideout. She would burst into a fit of laughter when her friends would discover her secret hideouts. And then there was the bully, the fat naughty kid with sloppy hair who would never miss a single opportunity to throw a nasty tantrum. Recalling his rotund face was a pure delight to her, as she blushed with the memories anew. Those were the days when she had a carefree life; when she did not have to think about deadlines and investments, bank balances and repayments. The jovial evenings when she could walk around the fields, laugh at her own reflection in the dark well waters, witness grand evenings as the sun dipped among rooftops and tree branches into the orange red horizons. The lovely, nutritious meals cooked by her mother’s soft hands, the endless fights within the family, the good night tales with the elderly…

“Triiiiiing!!!!” She squinted her eyes and looked out of the balcony as she stood up to open the door – the sun was dipping among terrace tops with clothes-lines; a flock of pigeons fluttered nearby as the honking of horns on the main street pitched in. Mumbai.