Somewhere around the late 1990s. The settlement located quite far from the town. Not far when u drive on your machines on the wheel. There were few houses in concrete and bricks, very few and not old too. Not close to each other either. They had two characters in common. one, every house had neem trees at the entrance, which gave enough shade and chillness and the second, they were calm and deserted. The place was hot, really hot during summer and all because of the sun, the permanent member in the settlement. Equally the rain showed it fondness towards the people. Not always, but it filled the ground whenever it showered. The soil was red, red soil and all the foots carried the red dust to home and sometimes the dress of the kids too strained with it.
There were not much population. How much population do you expect from the settlement of 7 or 8 houses?! very few... but there were enough open spaces... they can be called open grounds, thats how the kids call them... Ground! After every rain, they saw clear rainbow, till it touches the ground somewhere far. Sometimes the people can see the hill clearly when the early sun hits the hill. Won't you feel surprised to see a hill clearly, which is 30kms far from your doorstep? The ground will carry green grass and plants, unknown plants after every rain. They increased the aesthetic look of the surroundings. And they enjoyed the wind and breeze traveling through the open spaces into their home through small windows.
Earlier i told that the place was calm, but it was not always... Not every evening and weekends. There were enough kids in the settlement to make ground active. Not all are kids! few in their primary classes and few from the higher classes. Tall and dark, short and sweet, fair and sensitive, the active girl, the brilliant, fast, lazy etc etc. They had everything among them. They were a group of nearly ten, from different places and religions and lifestyle. But they had something in common... Nothing but Cricket. Cricket is the common religion of India and for them too. They were fans of Azarudhin, the captain then.., Sachin, all time blaster,.. Sourav, the young hitter and don't wonder... there were fans of Afridi, Michael beven, Brett lee, Warne, Lara and many more foreign players too.
They spent almost all the evenings and weekends in ground. The grounds of different sizes. The small, in which telephone post was the stump. Pretty okay kind of ground in which the stumps were the 3 black lines on the side wall of the house. And the large one, which is far bigger than the international stadium.
They made teams among them, they fought well for their victory. They had fight, revenge, victory, losses, anger, smile... everything that the kids of their ages have. They had the records of breaking the windows and cars too. And when they played opposing other team from neighbor areas, they were not the same and they were together to fight. They had enough movies to see, enough topics to talk, enough new games to try, enough exams to write...
they enjoyed their life as it was... without any target, without feeling for future... Their sounds heard everywhere with the sounds of birds, with the sounds of frogs in rain waters, with the sounds of wind that dashes on trees and window curtains...
When the days rolled on, year after year, the sounds reduced.
Kids are not kids anymore, the plants then are trees now. And the grounds are filled with buildings. concrete and bricks... and no place to play and no kids with bat.
And now, to see the far hill, i have to climb to my terrace but i see only the top of hill...
I miss those days. But can't get back to it. Some days in future, i may tell this as a story to my grand children... if they are free from their laptops!!!
I was chatting with my childhood friend Karthick (one from our gang i mentioned above). Our chat remained me the olden days.Here it is,,, some of those memories and many more inside me.
Dedicated to all my friends... Karthick, Raji, Ravi, Jeeva, Sathik, vikky, dhinu, my bros, puppy, kumar and bros and many more...
P.S. And sorry if i used too many "they were".
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