just watched a good movie after a long time. suddenly i feel it could be anybody‘s story… na?

many
years ago…
deepu, amma and me
navyug society
raincoats and rainyshoes
and a huge umbrella
little blue and white flowers
i think.
hold on tight
i remember us
walking to school
in knee-deep water
mind the pits
from the rains
three nights long
god alone knows what all is in the water
but we have to go to school
and maybe chitti’s house
after that
only if it’s stopped raining
school bags on our backs
books secured in plastic sheets
the stainless steel spoons
going clattery-clank
in our plastic
blue and white
lunch-dabbas.
then achchan will pick us all up
we’re smiling
rains are welcome
always.
mind that car!
i love the water
pretend the wind
does not like my raincap
but amma slides it back
over my head
do you want to catch a cold!?
deepu’s hiding
in her raincoat
tiny fingers clutching
amma’s hands
and mine.
i catch
the twinkle in her eye
as she secretly
grins
to herself
proud
of her new red
gumboots.

deepu and i are now taller than amma (okay, i’m almost taller), our shoes were given away long ago to someone who needed them more than us, and the raincoats flew out of our wardrobes along with our school uniforms.

yet when i was reading a totally unrelated (and long overdue) email from my big little sister yesterday, this picture of the three of us in the rain seemed to be staring back at me.

my, how much and yet how little we all have changed :’-)

praveen‘s just fixed the archive problem in my blogger account. so this is a test entry.