Growing Up In Delhi, This Is What Winters Were Like
With smoke masks smog and warmer mornings the winter of my childhood is long gone. I miss the winter breaks and the season as I enjoyed as a kid. The calm the peace the fam bam and comfort everything seems to have faded with time.
With the onset of December comes the season I always wait for the entire year. No matter how difficult it is to get up in the morning, there is an urge to feel the chill breeze on your face when you step out of the warmth of your blanket. Winter makes me feel warm, fuzzy, cold and alive, all at the same time.
However, the definition of winter has now changed. With smoke masks, smog and warmer mornings, the winter of my childhood is long gone. The same climate-controlled environment, the same fluorescent lights, winter today feels like just another season, as you sit an office. I miss the winter breaks, and the season as I enjoyed as a kid.
The long break
The thing I miss the most now is the long winter break. Back in school, after having a school class party full of chips and soda, we used to say goodbye for a month or so to our friends only to reunite in the new year.
The next morning used to be the best when mom didn¡¯t come to wake me up in the morning for school. I could stay in my warm blanket for as long as I wanted. A warm glass of milk in the morning and, oh my god, mom's gobhi paranthas!
Eating garam, garam paranthas with family is the best thing about winter mornings. Convincing mom to give you chai was another achievement altogether.
Finding reasons not to take a bath and then taking one anyway and straightaway heading to the roof to enjoy some sun. There is no better feeling than drying your hair under the sun.
Sunbathing on the roof, the after-bath cold just vanished. I remember chachu getting a lots of moongfali and gajak for us to eat. And the whole afternoon used to just fly by while chatting and laughing with family.
Thank god we didn¡¯t have mobile phones with us.
I am not sure how many of you have bitten through a stick of sugarcane. Soaking in the sunshine as you get a mouthful of sweetness, it was a different feeling altogether. I have tried studying under the sun multiple times but sleep caught me every single time.
If you can relate to the feeling of sleeping in the sun, you¡¯ll know what a calm sleep feels like. It is pure bliss.
I remember mom telling me to wear a sweater day in and day out and making me watch coughing kids in advertisements on television. For some of us who stay away from home, moms are not always there to tell us to put on layers now so now we take care of ourselves.
Winter evenings
Watching Cartoon Network all day long and then later Disney made the winter all the more fun. Watching back-to-back TV shows while under the blanket is what I miss the most.
It was then the dadi used to arrange bonfire with more moongfalis. We kids would fight over who'd sit the closest to the fire and then eat dinner by its warmth, winter during childhood was more than a season. It was a feeling that all of us crave now. The calm, the peace, the fam bam and comfort, everything seems to have faded with time.
If only I could go back in time re-live those pure moments one more time. I miss you, dear winter, and I¡¯ll cherish each memory you gave me as a kid.
