The mercury reads 30 degrees. It is still a good 10 degrees
lesser than what is in a place where I spent most of my summer before the first
trace of black graced my face. Coca-cola was unheard of. Rasna was the only “cold” drink we knew and
Rasna making was a huge task in itself. But, before the clock stuck 3, granny
would be there with 2 tumblers of Rasna, carefully filling both the tumblers
with the same quantity till the last drop. One drop extra in either of the tumblers
and hell would have broken loose. The
sense of competition was not restricted to the quantity alone. Sometimes, we
drank to finish first. Sometime to finish it just before 4! The competition
never mattered. We had to fight. And, we LOVED it.
Long
before Friendship Day forced us to buy worthless bands, update status on FB,
wish even the “hi-bye” friends. Long before we knew, “A friend In need is
friend indeed”. Much longer before crushes came and screwed our lives. Much before
we knew what a best friend was, each one of us has had a best friend. Our
cousins. It’s only later that we
realize, who our first best friends were.
The relation
between cousins is mysterious and sometimes even misunderstood. It might lack
the intensity of a sibling relationship, the raw emotions between a mother and
son, the cuteness of a father and his darling daughter and the understanding between
couples. Yet, there is a certain charm in the fleeting meetings with our
cousins. They tease and fleece you, care and scare you and if lucky, even love
you. This is probably because the relationship is safe from the curse of time.
Before, our egos take over, its time to say good bye! Or, does time
mysteriously shrink itself when in the company of cousins? I know not the
answer, but the validity of the question.
We
never chose our friends. And neither are they our parents to whom we owe our
life. Yet, they seem so much like us. They fight with us for our share of
grandparents and yet, fight together for our grandparents! On one hand, parents
try to make the cousins share bed and even bathroom (rather there were no
bathrooms and we bathed in the pump!) in some cases. At the same time, they
compare us with the elder cousin who always scored 100/100 in maths and conveniently
choose to ignore him when the case for love marriages came. Yet, we learnt to
lock jealousy in a far attic whose keys we have lost.
Like
all of you I had my cousins whom we met every summer! The tantrums, the fun,
the fights, the scars! For some of us,
they are the first ones to whom we revealed our first crushes!
Summer
is here. But, I need to go leaving behind my cousin. Back when he was a kid, I
remember him earnestly asking my mom for an old trouser of mine to wear. Today,
I want to ask his mom for a piece of him, to keep in my heart.
Time to reach for the handkerchief. Wear the glasses, pick the bag and walk on.
