It must have been ages since I spotted the Great Bear constellation and the Pole star, I am sure most of us in the metros may not even be able to recall as to when was the last time we star gazed! It took me down the memory lane, every summer evening from the roof top that was a favourite pastime, lessons in astronomy, story telling all rolled in one. No coolers air-conditioners just gentle night breeze which itself got a little nippy past midnight and a blanket was a must even in peak summers of Hindi heartland in the months of May June.
Pole star or Dhruv Tara as we call it in Hindi was spotted and the mythology behind the star was recounted practically every evening, I wonder how many of us can recall ….a king by the name of Uttanpad quite henpecked, as most of these mythological kings tended to be. Two queens and Dhruva was born to the lesser favoured of the queens. Once while he was playing in the king’s lap the step mother gets him off forcefully. Heartbroken he rushes to his mother who asks him to pray to the almighty who will bless him such that no one could then displace him. Fearless he walks into the jungle and prays… The Lord is pleased and gives him this celestial status. So it went.
The Great Bear is called Saptarshi after the seven stars named after seven sages and also Ursa Major. Some of you may recall there is an Ursa Minor as well, which was visible only on an extremely dark moonless night. The “Belt of Orion” is another popular constellation, which became part of our repertoire in the academy after lessons in map reading and night navigation, where the knowledge of one’s North was an essential prerequisite. Although to be honest, most of us were quite clueless even with the compass, map sheet and the night navigation charts.
Orion takes after the Greek mythological hunter, of course almost every civilisation had a name for the constellations and myths associated with them.
Anyway it was neither astronomy nor mythology which was on my mind when I was on my post dinner stroll. Here in Udhampur we are truly blessed, fresh unpolluted air, chirping birds, seasonal flowers galore and a beautiful landscape in the backdrop with snow capped peaks. What more can one ask for!
Summer vacations was the most blissful period of our childhood, with the confidence of princes as we were treated by our doting grand parents, stars in our eyes and with no distractions …not even TV, forget about the ubiquitous mobiles that have ruined the genuine pleasures of the unfortunate kids of today. No drudgery of homework, company of cousins of all ages from toddlers to the adolescents and all the time in the world, parents either busy or subdued by their parents…so it was the most chilled out time, as today’s youngsters will put it.
A typical day would begin on the rooftops where we all slept under quilts (!) yes in summers, the nights were chilly, woken up by the first rays of sunshine. The fun commenced with the morning rituals as there was invariably only one wash room for the whole family (!) unimaginable today. At least a score of people to use it. The ladies of course were through with these rituals long before the princes and princesses descended onto ‘Terra Firma’. One of the aunts usually the youngest one who would be a favourite with the kids would be entrusted with the onerous responsibility of bathing the younger ones amongst us, the second aunt would be in charge of dressing us all up, almost like an assembly line. There were days when the aunts would be busy and then we would have a field day draw water from the well and pour buckets of water all by ourselves.. oh that shower was the best ever better than any of the waterfalls that we encountered later in life.
On one such occasion I was so thrilled at my ability to draw the water and pour over self that I danced around the whole area and stood right next to my eldest cousin who inadvertently lowered the bucket right onto my nose and in the bargain I got nicked and started to bleed profusely, my grandmother picked me up and held the wound with her hands in her vice like grip, my mother dared not lay her hands on me.The wound left an indelible mark on the nose, and it was so prominent that it has been my identification mark ever since then. Nobody was blamed, ostracised….the fun and frolic continued unabated.
Alas the world has become increasingly fragmented with nuclear families, live in relationships, joint families can only be reminisced about fondly.Post Covid-19, may be we shall see a return to the joint families, as people are returning to their families in hordes, We are all concerned about the well beings of our kith and kin spread globally, isolated, quarantined….
Original Comments:
Sheraz Varma (2020-03-28):
Your words walked me through your mind. Of course the bit about stars and their stripes of Greek gods is always interesting. Your ruminations about childhood was cathartic.i was lucky to keep my nose chiselled as at birth. Loved the week down memory lane.
Suresh Yadav (2020-03-28):
Just the other day( PreCovid lock down ) taking a post dinner walk spotted Saptrishi and pole star and were discussing it used to be fun in olden days sleeping under the open sky and trying to identify various constellations and also see odd Aircraft flying … Beautifully written Suyash ��
Vasandani (2020-03-28):
Just loved reading it. Superb
Raj Jagga (2020-03-28):
Took me back to old golden days..well written..superb..
Shiv (2020-03-28):
Very nostalgic piece …..the summer holidays….. rooftop beds…..the bathing in the open…. transported me to probably the best period our generation Was privileged to experience…… Great imagination and perfect choice of words….God bless you
Unknown (2020-03-28):
Beautifully written Sir.
Arvinder Bhullar (2020-03-29):
Very nicely written Suyash!
I could clearly reminisce and relate to my visits to my grandparents during summer holidays!
Arvinder Bhullar
Bob (2020-03-29):
Nostalgia.
Superbly written Suyash.
Sudeep Bakshi
Amit Tripathi (2020-03-29):
Love you Suyash for taking us back time and again down memory lane.
V Pramod Kumar (2020-03-29):
Enjoyed reading, Suyash. I went back to my childhood days for some time.
Unknown (2020-03-30):
Beautifully written Bhaiya, thank u for giving us a glimpse of your childhood days..something we all can familiarize with.
Akshaya Handa (2020-03-30):
Lovely
Bhuppy Sharma (2020-04-02):
That was a beautiful read
Sofie (2020-04-02):
Ah…that slow paced life that we lived….nice one Suyash!
Satish Mallik (2020-04-02):
Suyash, nostalgia has kicked in on the topic of star gazing. I joined Astronomy club in my fourth term NDA, not because I had any interest in looking at the sky but primarily because all other clubs functioned in the afternoon whereas Astronomy club functioned post dusk. The benefit was that I could sleep in the afternoon while others were in their clubs and I was in the club while others were attending sessions. You know what I mean. However, later in my life, while staying awake in countless night ambushes on LC, I grew a genuine interest in this subject. I bought many books on Astronomy, made a telescope myself and started sharing my knowledge with my men on the post. Gradually they also started looking forward to these star gazing sessions. Thank you for bringing these memories back. And the second part of your blog about pleasures of a slow life in a joint family with collective sleeping on rooftops, well, I'm fortunate that we still manage to indulge in these as we have kept our village connection alive and fortunately our children also enjoy spending time with their large band of cousins in the village whenever possible.
Oh, I forgot to say, Great writing, Buddy!
Kedar Thaakar (2020-04-04):
Suyash, beautifully penned as always. Am sure, most of us can relate with it. I for one could relate with every bit of it, be it gazing Dhruv Tara and Sapta Rishi, sleeping on terrace and putting on quilt past midnight, whole family making do with single toilet, amd almost every thing. Thank you for bringing back not just the memories but the very unadulterated joy of those carefree days. Probably every generation says that theirs was better. We need not… your narration is a proof enough !
Vibha (2020-04-04):
Bachpan mein chale gaye while reading this, so had to re-read. Enjoyed the astronomy bit and simple messages about life that I could connect with. Keep writing Suyash, such reads are much more needed in C times.
