Life was simpler then.

When ‘hartals’ meant ‘no school’; and heavy rain meant ‘rainy day holidays’. Rain was ‘fun’ by default- walking barefoot on the grass under that ‘Shiuli’ tree during school ‘tiffin time’, picking up the fallen white and orange from the grass, making beautiful garlands, pretending we were fairies in an enchanted garden.

God’s own…, originally uploaded by Devdatta Bhattacharya.

I always thought Shiuli was a beautiful flower. It’s been a while since I last saw one. I miss it sometimes. I miss the freshness, the newness. It’s amazing how fresh a handful of Shiuli always looks.

Life is not as simple now. Now, fun trips mean planning for them- packing bags, calling the cat boarding, filling out leave forms, making lists….

Life is still good- with shared laughters, cute purring kittens, pulling your leg, new hairstyles and rude jokes at your expense- or mine… but sometimes, on a sunny day like this one- I wish I had some time for the beach- for the deep blue water with white foams and the light blue sky with white fluffy clouds, or for the white and orange flowers I used to love and still do, and that life was as simple as it was before…

… a long long time ago.