Lazy afternoon

At times, I reminisce about lying in my bed on a midsummer afternoon. When the entire neighborhood would hear drowsiness tapping at their doors, and the lonely lanes would scream for some ounce of attention, the ceiling fan would keep me company.

Lying on the bed, I would cook hundreds of stories in my head or the chain of my handful thoughts wouldn't reach a destination unless the loud hissing sound coming from the cooker whistle in our kitchen would interrupt. Even if the universe falls asleep, mothers won't!

I truly loved those days when families lived, loved, and laughed. Being together as a family matters especially when you're on this journey of life called 'growing old'. Those simpler times with neighbouring kids and friends were so special. They meant something; even the gossip wasn't harsh enough to make your ears bleed. Evening snacks came either from the temple as food offerings to god or some kind of innovation was done by contributing a small amount of money.

Anyhow, I'm living for those days. I'll always be stuck somewhere between leaving a friend's house early only to meet her the next morning and walking together to school or growing up to learn how to manage adulthood without a single simple thing happening around us. People grow up and move on. That's how life works and how we, as humans should live. But how do you grow up and still feel the child in you refusing to grow older with you!?

In the presence of this conflict that we all carry with us, we keep growing up and in our hearts we allow that child to be with us safe and happy! So that when we get lost while learning how to be an adult, the child inside us will give a reminder to relax and slow down for just a moment, maybe like right now!

Imagine then... You close your eyes and see flashes of the old yet beautiful times when you were young and untroubled. The evening lights are dancing over your head and following your shadow's rhythm; you reach your friend's house and off you go, skipping the ground and touching the sky, the long lanes are no longer lonely as an ice cream cart stands still surrounded by all the smiling faces. The eagerness humming on their fingertips reaches to grab the cold cones, chirping birds on a few wires make the sky appear clearer, and giggling girls running past by the circle of aunties gathered around to cool off the pressure cooker inside their heads.

With happiness flowing through, you finally give the lanes the true attention they deserve. You savor the flavors of your carefree surroundings until you feel out of breath.

So, maybe... just for these moments when we can close our eyes to relish and relive our memories; only to travel back to the thoughts of the past and hear the voices of our loved ones without having to worry about a time machine. It makes growing up and becoming an adult sound worth it, doesn't it?