Summer

*sigh*...winter's gone already. But summer's had a couple of wonderful memories too. It is my least favourite season, oh yes, but... May. I like May oddly. And I like mangoes. And Kalboishakhis. When we were kids, there used to be a lot of loadshedding. I was told, it was all Jyoti Babu's doing. So everytime there was a loadshedding, I used to imagine doing perverse things to Jyoti Babu - like sticking him with pins and throwing him off a cliff. I'd run about in my underwear, semi-neurotically, from one room to another, shouting "kokhon light ashbeeee? kokhon light ashbeee?" And the lights would not come back till late into the night, like 3 or something, by which, we would have fallen asleep, in Dada's room, because we got the southern breeze there the best - and of course, Ma hath-pakha'd diligently. Ma always had very strong hands - the way she haath pakha'ed, beat eggs, coffee, cake batter. And there would be stories. Because I was afraid of the dark. Baba's stories. About some young man on a train going to Bardhaman or something from Kolkata, and his adventures - which never ended - because either we'd fall asleep or Baba. But the stories were all very excellent. You'd have to hear them, to believe how good they were. "Buddhi khola golpo" he called it.
Another summer thing was cycling. Although, that happened all year 'round. But summer, was the best time, because we didn't have badminton, sports day or the rains to distract us. We raced all over the para, doing crazy stunts, sweating like maniacs, staying out till 7 - and sometimes if we were plucky, 8. And there were those long, long walks - and calling out to the stars. No, no - I'm not being word-pretty - I really shouted at stars - at the top of my lungs. I embarrassed my friends a great deal sometimes.
Then there was chaan. Cold water showers with some lemony soap. Especially after coming back home from all that playing. Sometimes I'd bathe 3-4 times in one day - conducting some T.V. show or something under the shower. And singing. There was this great bathroom hit - "Sajani" something, which I made up. It was brilliant. Very classical, and Raaahul-pani-khatam-ho-jayega types (remember the Le Sancy ad?).
School was the worst during summer. Especially when our water got over. We'd sweat like pigs and wipe it on our shirt sleeves - which would inevitably turn black. Then suddenly, while sitting in a stuffy classroom, waiting for the bell to ring, we'd smell a storm and stare out of the windows. And everything would become more tolerable.
So, even today, when there's AC, and all the comforts imaginable, I grumble about summer, I stop and think about the N9 days - and the happiness that the cruel season could bring.