Thursday 20 March 2014

Zimply Zummer




When summer was a baby people welcomed him with splayed arms. You see! He has a warmth which his brother winter lacked. Though his sister Lady spring was in full bloom, they all say 'Zomer is zimply zuperb'

When summer creeps in throwing cherubic smiles, kids shower him with those bright coloured  tit-bit sized papers which read LWD- Last working day. kids run after him with holiday spirit and parents run happy homes with happier hearts. Phew! who needs (thread) mills and (antihypertensive) pills anymore? Summer is here!



Yummy mummies treat summer with delicacies like bottled Rasna and  Neembu sharbhat. He wanders the meadows to pick out the most exotic fruits like Ice apples (Munjulu) and Madras thorns (seema chintakayalu). Kids dish out handfuls of Jamuns (Indian blackberry or Neredu) and Jujubes (Red dates or Regu pallu). They brawl over their tender palm shoots (Tegalu) and chill over a cup of ice-cream. water melons, musk melons, papayas and pineapples. What not! He carries a basket of goodies to food lovers delight. 




Well! I did not quiet forget the mango. She is deeply and madly in love with summer. when people tell her she is sour for the young summer she turns a sick green face at them and thrusts her tongue between her teeth. One day when she is all ripe and juicy he will be smitten by her sweetness and that day isn't far off she thinks.

With summer around gully cricketers roar and their sixers soar. Of course! One should not complain about broken windows and prickly rashes. Power cuts neither mute the croaking toads nor the cracking Antakshari's. Music is in the very air. Summer drives the lazy butts to beaches with warmer water and cooler drinks, shorter skirts with larger sun glasses. Life is never better.


Sleeping under the star lit sky summer dreams of his crush Jasmine. But the elite Jasmine has no eyes for the uncouth summer. Troubled by his teen pangs summer tries to look "kool". Sharaab replaces sharbath. Jamuns and jujubies perish. Burgers and pizzas flourish. Conditioned to the air conditioners, he ditches the cricket pitch and picks up a joystick.

He morphosed in to this angry young man who hammers away the keys of his P.C. 70 grands in pocket,  I pad, I pod, I fone...but no calls from friends. Brand new BMW but no long rides. Summer blazes. No vacations, no pillow fights, no Antaksharis, no dumb charades. Summer is no longer fun.

A bereaved summer stumbles upon Mango over a social network. She is indeed ripe and juicy, though she looks all pricey. Summer chuckled to himself thinking all that he needs to charm her is to be himself "Zimply Zomer". Indeed his first love is priceless.