Sugandha chanced upon her love for writing just like that. She signed up on blogspot and started an online journal to fill up her free time. But one look at ‘Somethings Sugandha’ and you will thank her for the ‘Shades of Life’ she paints for us there, and for herself. Fiction, personal reflections, views and reviews can be found adorning her space. Food for our thoughts and food for her own mind too, she says.
Now, Sugandha and I have something going on between us. You can call it an ‘affair to remember … to meet’ for more often than not, we catch ourselves saying to each other ‘We need to meet’. However, we are yet to travel that distance to see each other, even though we live in the same city.
Travel that distance...
Sugandha asked me to write a travel post for her blog and gave me sweeping powers to choose the kind I wanted to. So, I picked a memoir post, as a little girl growing up in a sleepy hamlet of lichi trees and tinned roofs, in a home called Dehradun. A post about what Travel meant when I did not know what all it could mean.
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Steeped in nostalgia I write this.
Of life and times when school was special even in its sameness of routine and evening play among kids for the newness, for who knew who the ‘denner’ would be that day? Of times when Sundays meant meals on a chatai in the garden, all 12 members of this joint-family together and festivals nothing short of spectacular. And of a life when travel did not mean packing large suit cases and leaving the house home-alone but something else entirely …
Some lovely memories there Sakshi. I could almost smell those hot pakoras and the lip smacking Rajma Chawal that it must have been...You took us with you on this trip down your memory lane. Esp. loved this line,
ReplyDelete*Just travel higher and higher, taking in the valley with our silence.*
I yearn to do that each time I travel, travel as it means today or travel as it meant back then..
Beautifully written!
And Sugandha, as Jairam put it, glad you came up with this, it was a lovely peek into Sakshi's childhood for all of us :)
Most welcome to come to Dehradun with me. We will take in the valley en route Mussoorie together, Seeta. :)
DeleteGlad you liked this. Thanks for reading!
Sakshi, you wove a hauntingly beautiful tapestry here. I could hear the drone of the scooter; feel the balmy wind in my face.
ReplyDeleteReminded me of some very special times I had with my cousins too during the summer vacations. Someday, maybe I'll write them down too. More as a record of the times than of my own life, perhaps.
Dagny
Thanks, Dagny. Every time I write a childhood post, I hear a couple of you-remind--me-of-my-childhood. Goes to show how somehow, being children, meant the same thing no matter where and when we grew up.
DeleteNo maybe, just write them down, those experiences of yours.
Charming narration, Sakshi! How lucky you were to grow up in the mountains. I have heard so much about Doon but have never visited it. Have visited Nainital though and absolutely love it. There is something in the mountain air, the tall trees, the sparkling lakes and the robust people that instantly relaxes you. Loved your childhood memories. Though completely unrelated, they transported me to my nana's house in the UP plains where the harshest of summers did not deter us cousins from playing ice pice. Those beautiful days of childhood; I miss them immensely. Lovely post down memory lane. You must do these more often! Chalo if I ever go to Doon, I know who my guide will be. I loved that image of you with your kid brother on that scooter with papa and mama and rajma chawal for company :). My husband dreams of a day when we can retire and go and live in the mountains!
ReplyDeleteLike I was telling someone else, as long as I am from Doon (which you know is forever!) you are most welcome to be my guest there. I cannot promise to buy you a retirement house in the hills, but I can surely ease the process. But until then, we can have a good time together there.
DeleteThanks for liking this, Rachna. I can see I took you back to sweet summers too! :)
Awesome place, awesome writer and awesome write up!
ReplyDeleteThank you X 3 :D
DeleteThe imagery that reflects from your post is spell - binding, Sakshi!
ReplyDeleteAnd, hills are my favorite place to holiday to! :D
Thank you, Poonam. Happy you liked this. You are most welcome to the hills where I belong, even if Im stuck in Delhi for the time being. :)
DeleteTravelling the distance is important, Sakshi!
ReplyDeleteTrips down the memory-lane are special :)
Indeed important, Anita. Thank you for reading me! :)
DeleteAwesome travelogue down the memory lane...childhood was so much fun ..the post reminds me of my own childhood days..nostalgia...
ReplyDeleteNostalgia tastes lovely to me. Maniparna, good to know you enjoy it too. :)
DeleteLovely read Sakshi.. I read it before when you posted the link on FB and again today..
ReplyDeleteMade me wish to visit Dehradoon...Sigh...
Come with me, Preethi. I can be your tour guide for Doon anytime. :)
DeleteThanks for coming back to it. :)
and i come around now to read this. between all that compliment, it suddenly stuck my dim wit that you shared the extract on your blog...
ReplyDelete:D I had to. I had a very lovely picture to share too na! :D
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