SERENITY OF SUMMER EVENINGS

Grab your cup of coffee, and recount your summer evenings 

A pile of memories 

To begin with, the first popup that hits my mind when I recount summer evenings is sitting on the terrace, after sprinkling water on the roof in the early hours of the evening, watching serenity in sunsets, sleeping on the terrace with our family and cousins, the windy breeze (neither cooler nor air conditioner can match that vibe), watching trees dancing to the wind, gazing at stars, and finding star patterns. While finding patterns of the stars, I do remember my eyes caught on three straightly aligned stars. I used to compare those stars with the three of us, Me and my two brothers. From playing Anthakshari, Dumb shell arts to our silly talks and laughs will have fun together. Sunlight on our faces wakes us up in the morning. 

    Our most summer vacation destinations are our Grandparent's houses (Ammamma Gari Illu). Here home I refer to is not just the architectural construction with walls, I refer to it as the bunch of people, their love, and emotions.

The second thing that comes straight into my mind, any guesses...Let me leave a clue, mostly all of us are fond of , got it? 

Yumm Yumm Mangoes never go wrong in making our summers more special than our holidays. I am personally fond of mangoes, Wherever I stay in my summers (to date), I keep a bunch of mangoes stock always in my place. I eat mangoes daily. I Eat varieties of mangoes, Mostly fond of Rasam pallu, Eating those fruits is fun, that rasam(juice) flowing down through those tiny little fingers while squeezing it out, and licking those fingers after eating fruit tastes yummier to be honesttt!. 

And another thing I must tell you about my summer favorite dish combination with Mango rasam which has my heart is Puri-Rasam and Atlu-Rasam, can't even describe the sheer delight feeling I felt while I eating those with tiny little fingers.

Another story I have to tell you about mangoes when I went for a  summer internship in the month of May, our accommodation was in a nearby village, and I faced a lot of issues with food, my friends all are okay with the food but I fell sick for some or the other reasons, Only curd rice and bread jam was my go-to things to eat. Whatever the stomach situation was, for obvious reasons, I didn't want to miss my favorite yummy mangoes, I used to buy mangoes on alternative days, so that there will be no chance of missing mangoes,  I used to eat minimum 3-4 mangoes in a day.  

And another thing popped up in my mind, how can I miss mentioning about my grandmother. A woman with a beautiful heart in and out. She is a mother of five, who never rests in a day, she does some or the other work. I must admit it, my favorite thing is her attire, Gochi saree, Hair bun, with a round big blob of kum-kum on her face makes her the epitome of beauty of the house. And coming to my best memories with her, My ammamma used to tell us a day before when she is going to make these dishes. I used to eagerly wait for it. I used to wake up early and do my things and get ready. My Ammamma asks us to squeeze the mangoes, Literally, I used to wait for it, because I can eat mango when my ammamma don't see, but she don't give us a chance to eat, she used to sit beside us to squeeze those mangoes to make rasam. She knows our eagerness to eat mangoes but she controls it, after some time by seeing my face she used to give us squeezed peel, but it really tastes good for those little kids who are waiting for it. Used to take it, gallop it into my mouth, and enjoy it. 

And another thing is making Atlu by Ammamma, ATLU( pancake) Literally I can say those pancakes taste takes my heart away. In the early morning, she used to start doing it. At one corner of their house's backyard is a chulha, an Indian cooking stove made from mud. She used to sit at the chulha with one basket, batter, and an onion pinned to a needle to spread oil on the pan using that, and water to sprinkle the pan after every pancake, that sound when she pours water on the pan while making pancake, my heart is in it. I am totally into it, I used to wait to eat those pancakes without her observation but she leaves no chance, if I sit for more time there to help her and entertain her by asking my big questions about making pancakes she used to laugh and give me answers (Those questions were actually silly to her). At last, she gave me a little pancake when all my cousins went out. Those cute little moments I miss now.

And some of my summer memories are at my Pedhamma's house, immediately after the holidays were declared, I and my younger brother used to pack our bags and reach Madnoor, my Pedhamma's residence. We used to play games like Astachamma, Kachakayalu, and Gotilu with our sisters and my gally(colony) friends. After a month when the school reopening day is near my dad used to come to take us back. Literally, I used to cry to go back to my home, then my pedhamma used to give us chocolates or 5 rupees to buy something and she makes silly promises to stop us from crying and sending us back to our house.

Sleeping in the afternoon and playing with sand by making houses under the tree shadow. Collecting fallen mangoes and black jamuns, playing with monkeys, and running away from them is our daily routine in the quarters where we used to stay. 

Going for a walk in the evening with Nanna is my all-time favorite thing to do. A small walk in the windy breeze, and serenity in the weather, whether it may be on the terrace or on the ground, I love those walks and talks where I pour down all my questions before Nanna, and wait for his suggestions, listening to his answers, and jokes, laughs all together. A lot of moments come into my mind when I remember about those walks. Sometimes my  Amma would also join the walk and her presence makes the moments very joyful with her sense of humour. Sometimes Anna and Tammudu also join if there was not any cricket match telecasting on the TV, the whole bunch of five have fun together. 

Ok, that's a wrap for this episode of beautiful summer memories, until next time..........

If you got connected with my summer memories, be sure to drop it in the comments, I'd love to hear all those recollections.