Our Peepal tree

We live right opposite a big Peepal tree. I can see it from my kitchen when I am cooking and we have a wonderful view of it from our living room. My kids and I spend hours in the balcony looking at the tree and the various birds and animals who have made it their home.

There is an eagle's nest , high up . We actually saw the mother eagle feed her babies - my son loved looking through his binoculars. And then there are innumerable squirrels , always hurrying somewhere. And yesterday , there was a big flock of mynas. Several crows and koels also inhabit its huge branches.

The balcony is my kids' favorite lunch spot - the Peepal is our jungle and the balcony a shady glade !!!

It shed its leaves last week .Indian trees don't wait till fall for shedding- basically because we don't have a fall :)) It stood stark and naked.

And then , yesterday , the Peepal stood covered in fresh , translucent green. It had sprouted new leaves in less than a couple of days.

The leaves are a wonderful color right now , a shiny light green and almost transparent. Everyday , they'll change color , almost dramatically in fact. In a week or so , they will turn a dark shade of green and remain that way till the tree renews itself again next year.....

Summer's here !!

It's officially summer here in Hyderabad. But nobody seems to have told the rain clouds . It's been raining so heavily for the last couple of days , it's just like the monsoon.

The coolers which had just been taken out in anticipation of another long , dry summer are back in storage. Perhaps we may need them after a week , but right now , it's really cool and pleasant.

Not that I don't like summer . When I was a kid , summer was the best season of the year . It was the time of our annual school holidays. Long lazy days lounging in my grandma's verandah, sleeping under the stars at night.......

As far as I can remember , we always slept on the terrace in the summer. It was my job to cool down the hot rooftop by pouring buckets of water on it. Right after sunset , I would climb up to the roof and diligently start watering . Ah , the smell , it was heavenly !!! The cool water on the hot baked roof rose up in steam with the most wonderful aroma , I can almost smell it right now.

Even when we moved to different houses , we always made sure that we had access to the terrace for our summer nights. The cool breeze and the whispering trees were a lullaby to tired bodies . And the beautiful starry sky provided hours of entertainment .......

We continued our tradition of sleeping out till I moved away to the US . And when I came back , I found that Hyderabad had been transformed from a sleepy city to a bustling metropolis where everyone lived in apartment blocks. Gone were my beloved houses with rooftop access. Everywhere they have been replaced with multi-storied blocks of flats.

It's been years since I went to sleep under the stars , but when summer approaches , my heart still longs for that simple pleasure....... If only wishes were horses......................