Good Old Times

   April Indeed is the cruelest month. cuz, first of all, I can't bear this amount of heat, the central part of the Indian subcontinent is hot as hell in summer. So the idea of European summer paradise, and the fun, well, I can't live that in India. For that, we wait for the winter, the clear sunshine, blue sky, and delightful cold breeze. So winter might have kept us warm, but the summer is full of Nostalgia. Sleeping under the white light of the moon, diving in the cold water under the blazing sun of the noon, sucking the pleasure from that colorful snowball, and what else? alright, that's all, that's all. Wait, was that all? Hell no, and I do remember it was all sublime, but, you know, I just don't know how to rhyme. Well, actually that sort of summer I lived last year after a very long time. I came to my small town around 15th march last year from Pune cuz the covid thing started to spread its shit all over, and god, I was literally shocked looking at what the world had been going through. When I got home, after 3-4 days my throat became sore and it started building dry cough, which was enough to freak me out. I went to see a doctor, it was around 7 in the eve, but it felt like midnight. There was no one on the road except some dogs barking. The doctor sent me to the government hospital when he knew that I came from Pune. I got stamped on my left forearm and it said HOME QUARANTINE. It was supposed to last there for 14 days cuz of the special ink that they use, but it faded completely after 5 days and so does my cough too. Turns out it was a bacterial infection. 

    When I was in high school I spent my summer holidays playing cricket, swimming, staying up late watching Movies Now, Romedy Now, WB, Star Movies, HBO and  Big Bang Theory, Friends on Comedy Central. I didn't understand a word of English back then, but still, I don't know why I enjoyed watching them. I wanted to live like them and be among them. I never liked watching Indian soap operas, never felt connected to it. 

    In the first week of April, we went to live in our village, after a very long time, and the summer of the good old times begun. I realized that 'spring' does exist in India. Those beautiful landscapes, covered with green grass with little yellow flowers and the dirt road runs through in it. It was all beautiful.  There is literally a small village of us in our village. The family is very big and all of my cousins were gathered together after a long time. We played cards, cricket, we went swimming, our small snack parties in the evening, and then cards after dinner or a movie on the laptop or some long discussions about politics and life, obviously picking on each other in between. I was using Santoor soap, Clinic Plus shampoo, and Colgate for my teeth. It was a little difficult for me to eat dinner and sleep early and then again rise early in the mornings. I stayed up late, watching live Comedy Central on my phone even though my brother had a Netflix subscription. Just like those good old days. That summer was the compilation of my all summers from childhood till the teenage days. It was one good summer all right.

   This April Covid became alive again. Yesterday more than 1 lakh new cases were found in the country. But people aren't afraid now. The good thing is we found the vaccine, but still the covid is rising and we need to take care of that. Last year the country's economy was fucked, so the complete lockdown is impossible now, but still, there are some guidelines issued by the government. There is a lockdown on weekend days though, so let's see what happens. Still, there is uncertainty, but the good thing is, I am not entirely hopeless like I was last year.