PYARA'S QUARTER K2/7

"Rupa ki mummy, ration store main gayhoun aaya hai, Punkaj ke papa abi lekar aaye hai" then you can hear Bapppi Bhaiya of the colony teasing the youngest one "Oye Pontho Chai" as Pontho Chai used to stammer while talking. Every day he had 'paratha and tea' for his breakfast and in his stammering speech he would say Pontho Chai instead of paratha and Chai; hence the tag stayed with him for years. 'Madhu Choosh' was another tag that haunts the silent ears. 'Budhan' or 'Bibbi Berr' names given after the buffalo that was taken away by another keeper; is a teaser even today during our casual catch-ups among the oldies. These tags were bestowed to bring humour to the surrounding amongst the masses where the 'less is more' attitude prevails in times of  'need is luxury'. 

Power cuts were the opportunities looked forward to. Children will break open the door to run around in the colony to play games like, hide and seek or chain cook. Saat Patti was also famous along with Saat Goti which were street games of growing up years of a child living in the colony. Women of the houses will gather together to share their struggles with each other finding solace in the gossips. Exchange of bowls of goodies was common practice. Sometimes borrowing a dress to wear for a marriage ceremony or visiting their villages were casual.

Tantrums at home will lead to treats at neighbours. School teacher's sight was like a curse, running away from those routes were opted at. Sunday afternoons were aromatic with delicacies expected to be relished during the 12-noon lunch. By 4 warm tea will be served with dry snacks. Six o'clock - one has to hold the books to revise and be ready for the next morning routine. By 8, dinner would be served. Ten was the maximum one was allowed to be awake. 

Throughout the day there would be vendors calling out for goodies to be sold. Sari or suits pieces or ice-candies or Sondesh or Dosa or my favourite golgupas; would keep the Road No 27 busy. 

Pyara's Quarter was adorned by a Guava tree, which grew watching 'rupa ki mummy' nurturing it along with us. Afternoons nap is still prevalent in Telco Colony. All four of us will be seen on the Guava Tree sitting, eating the raw guavas; playing while being siblings. We four were enough to kill the boredom which our children cry for every now and then. If it rained, then, all will forget their nap to run around to pick mangoes from the trees owned by the neighbours which were otherwise prohibited to pluck. Stealing the mangoes from those trees still lingers and warms my lonely hearts. 

I wish to relish the salt with red chilly powder mix to eat those rained dipped watered mangoes with Pyara and my younger lot again. The sourness is still tickling my soul away from Pyara and my younger lot. Pyara's Quarter is missed today in the luxurious lifestyle of a metropolitan city like Pune.

 SUNDAY Realization

Looking outside the house for engagements; will lead to another, AND

Looking inside the house; will lead to 'CREATION'.

In the same way, looking outside will lead to everthing veiled; AND

Looking within will lead to everything  'JOYFUL'

 Food for Thought.....

We are born in a place, we move from one place to another for education or job and somewhere life settles us down. In the movement, some go really far from their own land. Few remain in the same land. All are still discontented, they look at the other side where the grasses seem greener. Alas, the journey remains a failure. Where ever you are if you have not learnt to be satisfied and happy, you will always find the grasses to be greener on the other side. It's your attitude towards life. 

 Relationships these days are like.....

Halls rooms are buzzing with web series or movies. Pillows getting warm with mobile phones. Oldies spend their time watching TV serial, hoping for their children to spend little time talking and sharing. Children are occupied with their gazets. This is family life in today's time. You connect with everyone on phone, even with your family members sending and liking their messages on social media, but a word to share is missing. Whats app is convenient means to share with the world about life status, but a person wailing beside is ignored. Children are lonely, with no friends to play with or siblings to fight with. They occupy themselves in the virtual world, believing in every sight and voice. They are the future of this world. 

Today mental problems are elevating, loneliness has crept into our lives. Suicide cases are brimming. If children are given this environment to grow then, they will be mentally sick. A mental sick generation will ruin this world. Let's be conscious of our usage of gazets, mobiles or TVs. Family should stay together, live together sharing, caring and loving. The family should acknowledge the presence of other family members. Nobody should be left alone in their rooms to wail to feel lonely. When people are there in the house then loneliness should be out of the house. If a member is suffering depression in the house, it's the responsibility of the other members to know the reason behind it. If in your presence, your mother, father, brother or sister or even your own children are undergoing depression then it's your responsibility to cure it. Depression is another word for loneliness or feeling less loved. 

I remember my mother looking for ways to talk to her children. But when she was alive we didn't bother to spare time or visit her. Now when she is not here with us, we long for that companionship. I also remember when my father in law would seek opportunities to talk to us. He will invite us to spend time with him in his house, which we ignored. Then died hoping to travel together to southern regions of India with family. He wanted to share the experience of travelling by train to different regions of southern India with him, but we never took out time for his dream. He would sit and wait for us to talk, desperately he will sit with us when we used to retire for the day to bed. Today we can just regret it.

But, it's never too late. Money will come, success will come too but people who will die will never return back. Better to cherish the moment now and never regret it later. This feeling of regret is worse than living a life with compromised successful life!

You all are intelligent people with high intellect, you can decide the course of life. 

 💭💭💭💭Thought for Today💭💭💭💭

"Silence speaks louder than words" if a listener can hear the Silence; words would be heard too! 👂👂👀👀💭💭👀👀