Hideaway

I must agree that I have had a pretty good childhood. I had my share of troubles but then again who hasn't? But the bigger picture brings a smile to my face and fills me up with nostalgia. I had everything that a kid could dream off. Parents to trouble (mostly mom), big place to run around, huge garden to dirt my clothes, zillion trees to climb, chickens to chase, dogs to be chased by (bitten, at times), fruits to pluck (steal too :D ), fishes to catch in streams (mistook tadpoles for fish at times), books to read and a heavenly place to grow up in.

The 3 phases of my childhood that I remember extremely clearly are my days in Melli (South Sikkim) - thats where my father used to work, Kaji House (Kalimpong) - where me and my mom lived while my dad came to visit on weekends and Tapoban (Kalimpong) - where I began living as a PG but then became family. Each and every moment of my life back then was an adventure and the best part was that I was a kid to actually enjoy life. I didn't have to worry about the difficulties that my parents had to face to make life work there, but I guess that's why every kid deserves to have a memorable childhood, enjoy being a kid. I guess I was just plain lucky.

As a kid too, I was quite a loner. I enjoyed time in solitude. While living with my parents, I could balance my friend-time and alone-time but when I started living at Tapoban, things were a little different. There were other kids there and one wouldn't be left alone when he wanted to. Though now I look back and see how wonderful a time I had in Tapoban, as a kid back then, I really missed living with my parents. I was in class 4 then. Not too big. And at times I just wanted to be left alone and picture myself with them. But as I said, it wasn't easy being alone in a house filled with kids of various ages. But where there is a will, there is a way. I needed to find a place from where I could keep an eye on what's happening in the house, whether anyone was searching for me and whether I had to make a quick getaway. Kalimpong being a hill station had terraced landscape. We had  our water tank up a couple of terraces to the left of the house, (its a totally different issue that we could never pull water up to it from the "jhora" below :) ).

But I discovered that it was the perfect place to spend some quality time with myself. No one would even dream that there could be someone sitting behind the tank. Had a wonderful view too, sitting above the tank. I could see the whole "Kanchenjunga" range peering behind the house on the left while Kalimpong town to the right.

Took these photos, the last time I visited the place in 2008. It was during the rains, so was mostly cloudy. But there wasn't a single shred of cloud as far as my memories were concerned. Its been ages since I sat there studying, at times angry and at times sad cause I missed home but then its not really too difficult to time travel. All I have to do is close my eyes and I am there, back to the water tank, a kid in class 4, and yet there is difference. I see myself not sad but smiling smugly because I know the future and I know that I must enjoy the moment for I'll be holding on to it for a very long time in the future.