Describe one of your favorite moments.
The narrator reflects on cherished memories from childhood, particularly those spent during summers in a village with family and friends. He recalls fishing activities that brought his community together and highlights the joy of simple pleasures, like eating mangoes and playing games. Transitioning to city life, he discovers an appreciation for nature and solitude, often feeling drawn to the hills and their beauty. Through various experiences, he learns the importance of remembering good times while letting go of painful ones, emphasising the role of memories in shaping happiness.
He stopped for a moment, cogitated and kept silent. The question he was asked made him think. Even after considerable thought, he still couldn’t unify his feelings, which he felt were tied to it. There were many, and as he tried to catch hold of one, another one came calling. A faint smile came to his lips, and his disposition seemed to convey that he liked it.
The summer season used to be his favourite one. Since childhood, it gave him a type of feeling that he couldn’t leave, and it became permanent like a sculpture carved out on a stone slab. The rustic ambience, dotted with mango orchards, roaring hot westerlies and cosy shades of mango trees all gave him a unique aestival feeling. Mangoes have been his most favourable fruit. He used to consume them aplenty. There were many sweet memories he relished remembering.
It was a hectic day. A pond jointly owned by a few close-knit families was humming with activities. A few robust family members were busy making a bund to create a closed area. After it was done, a huge, narrow, metallic canoe-like bailer was used to scoop out water from that area. Although it was a challenging task, the balance was tilted more toward its rewards. People who undertook it, as a result, were enthusiastic and did it with joy. The cheering village folks would collect around the pond and enjoy the sight.
As the water was scooped out, the closed area gradually became slushy with little water, enough for fish to swim around, but catching them was easy. With the help of a small net, a large number of fish were caught. The whole day’s task was tiresome but fruitful, as a huge catch of fish was the reward. The catch was then divided among the family members. It was also distributed to the village folks generously. Everyone felt happy.
Share of the catch for each family was more than enough for days to come. The fish were kept in huge earthen pots alive and were often used for lunch and/or dinner. It used to be carefree days when he used to enjoy a lot, forgetting other peripheral things. He used to be completely submerged in the activities.
Sometimes his cousins also visited the native village. It would be a delight for contemporary companions to enjoy together. They all used to spend time below the Java Plum (“Jāmun”) tree, eating the deep purple sweet fruits and gossiping endlessly. Mango orchards were their favourite place to hang out.
What he didn’t initially like but later enjoyed thinking about was how the village people would gather around any activities he and his cousins undertook for fun. The villagers would clap, cheer, and shout with joy. This was their way of showing solidarity and celebrating their diverse unity. He recognised this, but recently, he found himself capable of truly appreciating it.
Once it came to his mind and he shared it with his cousin, who readily agreed to it. The plan was to prepare a small piece of land in the backyard as a wrestling ring. He, along with his cousin, dug up the piece of land, made its earth soft and porous, winnowing pebbles and gravel to make the soil soft and healthy. They started playing different games like “Kabaddi”, “Kusthi” (wrestling) and other such petty games. The game soon gained popularity among village folks who started swarming to the place of their amusement. As usual, the village boys, girls and sometimes elders started to visit the patch, and they collectively enjoyed the game. With their involvement, the game became serious and shifted its stance from sheer amusement to something serious and often unpalatable. This continued for a few more days but slowly stopped.
Gradually, his rural visit came to a halt. His parents shifted to a comparatively big and historical city. Shifting to a new city was not an emotional shock to him, as the city he lived in was not good, and he did not like it. People appeared to be self-centred and regressive. The city was also dirty and disorderly.
The new city appeared comparatively clean and orderly. The roads flanked by trees with dense overstory looked romantic. Apart from some busy areas, the city was calm and quiet with sparse traffic. It was a good place where he was to stay for more than a decade. In the short period, the city impressed him a lot. New place, new company and new place – there were many things to see and explore. He would often visit various places of historical or religious importance and riverbanks. The tintinnabulation from temples attracted him. He soon deciphered that he liked secluded places where he enjoyed being in the company of himself. He keenly observed things and other natural objects like leaves of plants and their tendrils, and insects hovering on their flowers. It was amusing.
Soon he realised that he loved nature. The plants, flowers, natural landscapes and rustic ambience attracted his attention. He often visited such places. Once travelling to a religious site in a rocky terrain, he was attracted towards humongous boulders. It was a condensed mass of minerals compressed and treated by natural forces to become a huge boulder about thirty feet high. As the train passed through a gorge, views of the precipitous primordial hillock of rocks were amazing to behold. The wild natural beauty and rough terrain attracted him.
More often than not, he felt an attraction towards hills. Stories about hills, people living there and snowfall would fascinate him. He longed to visit a hilly place. Travelling to some religious place in the plateau of central India, he descried a majestically graceful hillock that was stunningly beautiful against the morning sun. He kept staring at the hillock for quite some time. It stayed with him for some time as the train he was travelling on started crawling.
He fondly remembers his visit to a famous hill station. The first phase of the journey was tiresome, but as he reached the foothills of the Shivalik and viewed the outline of hills in the background, his fatigue instantly volatilised. Tired of a monotonous and sluggish train journey, he got down and came out of the station. Feeling thirty, he opened the tap. The water was pleasantly cold and tasty. He greedily gulped water and started wandering. The first impression of the place was very nice. After having simple but tasty food in a local “Dhaba”, he sauntered in the market for some time. The crepuscule soon became dark. The floating “Diya” in the river looked eye-catching. He enjoyed the scene and the religious fervour, and slowly moved to take shelter for a night halt. After securing a bed in a local dormitory, he freshened himself and slept.
Morning was pleasant. After clearing the bill, he intended to visit some more temples, but due to time constraints, he did not. He boarded a bus and intentionally did not sit, but journeyed standing just to enjoy the scenic ambience. After wandering on the serpentine hilly roads, the bus reached the destination.
It was pleasant weather. The popular hill destination was moderately crowded, but in some places it was less crowded, cool and calm. He thoroughly enjoyed being there and instantly fell in love with the place. Surrounded by hills that appeared in various hues of blue, it echoed on a slight call, like hills were answering it. It was all enchanting and invigorating. He did not eat as the money he carried was limited, and he planned to spend time wandering and sleeping under the shade when needed.
While wandering, he encountered his old friend, who was also there. They greeted each other warmly and spent quality time together. He dubiously replied to his friend when asked about his place of stay. They dined together and parted.
After wandering for quite some time, he took refuge under a shade he had identified earlier. How was his night? How he spent time on a cold, windy night below the shade is a long story, reserved for future storytelling. The morning was pleasant. After enjoying full throttle, he returned to catch the train back home.
Life is full of experiences. Good or bad, experiences teach a new lesson to lead life. The past will never come back, but the memories often revisit, making a person nostalgic. People need to be selective in choosing good memories and discarding bad ones. Good memories give reasons to smile, while bad memories are regressive and bring pain. Choice is ours.
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