Last night when i was nearly dozing off to sleep, my 3 year old daughter fanned my face with her story book...a distinct sense of deja vu prevailed and my mind slipped down the memory lane into the bylanes of my childhood.The summer evenings coupled with power cuts or load shedding as they are known wasn't as murkier as they ought to be.
I remember Ma, kaki(my aunt) finishing off with cooking dinner and getting ready with bhajabhuji and mudi to be munched on during the power cuts, on the terrace.The cool breeze on the terrace did bring some respite but what was really apealling was the munchies and being a part of the gossip that my Ma and kaki had about their work places, about their in-laws(most interesting!!!), their friends, grand mothers, price of vegetables and weaving matrimonial alliances between children of their aqcuaintences.Some evenings, I was spending this "power cut" time with my Baba's camp-Baba and kakus(uncles).Their agenda for discussion was entirely different-Mohan bagan, East Bengal, European soccer,Kapil Dev, Gavaskar and the futility of all political parties(somethings never change!).
I actually looked forward to the power cuts because they meant a one and half to two hour hiatus from studies.Well, I could study with light from battery operated lamps or lanterns but i did not on the pretext that it hurt my eyes and my Ma gave in.As the power would be back, everyone got back to their mundane tasks of late evening, primarily watching TV and us kids had to get back to studies.If I still lingered on the terrace Ma would go ballistic about how I was wasting time, what would become of me, admonish that kids from middle class bengali families have only one route to rise in the rung than their predecessors-study!
The candescent memories of power cuts are cocooned in my heart and maybe my kid grows up to think that I belong to the dark ages, cherishing memories of power cuts!!!Never mind...
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