Summers in Jharia - 2

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Evening snack during the summer months was water melon. We call it 'turbooz' in Hindi. Mumbai calls it 'Kalingar'. The water melon was cut into half moon shape for all of us children. Due to shortage of water and electricity, the refrigerator barely worked. We children hardly opened it to keep it cool even when there was a power cut. Dad and Uncle liked cold 'Chaas' and water. During the 'loo' ( not toilet) when the afternoon heat and a wind was at its peak, we shut all windows and stayed indoors. The joy was watching Amitabh Bachchan movies on VCR while the electricity was there.

Earlier when I was the only child in my house, we slept on the neighbour's terrace. This was 'Ratan Kaki' s terrace. We called it ' saamey waadi chhat' .  That was in our compound. The single ground floor houses had a common terrace with no boundary. All neighbours came up to sleep like community living. Each one put their own 'Chattaai' or mats. It was difficult to take your mattresses up and down from the terrace. We had to climb down from our house and mid way the steps connected to the opposite terrace. Have spent so many summers sleeping there in the nights and playing in the afternoons. My first memories of Diwali as a child are all about my parents bursting crackers there at five am. This terrace had a 360 degree view, as in it was the lowest terrace and all could look in. The Marwari building had a direct view, Rohini  Aunty, Vishal, Dhanu ben, Nishi, Press waala all these households could see our terrace from their windows/terrace. Sleeping with the sky, open terrace and a couple of Peepul trees was enough. No one craved for the air-conditioned comforts. Evenings we played 'kit kit', 'Dengaa Paani' , Aais Paais. Afternoons were for ' Ghar Ghar' and 'Teacher Teacher'. We did not do Bollywood Dancing ever. A 'Dupatta' sufficed as a Saree or a curtain. 

Later when when we had the air conditioner, we all slept in the same room with our parents, Grandmother and Uncle. Mom used to put water in some part of the AC and no it was not an air cooler. I did not like the AC as I found the air stuffy. I preferred the summer heat which was dense without humidity. The days we got running water in Jharia, were the days we celebrated. We would cook a lot of fancy food and wash up a lot. Water stored in tanks was used for cleaning the house and washing bedsheets. Fresh water was filled in the tanks. None of us had a water filter. A clean white kitchen cloth was all the filtering we had. No one got water borne diseases or heat strokes. Evenings it was absolutely okay to eat Pani Puris for dinner. Our parents worked really hard to make our summers comfortable. I make a big noise when ever I do any work for my children. This age of television and social media has made me learn to blow my own trumpet. Sometimes I feel sick listening to myself. 

Do you ever feel like sick listening to yourself? 






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