The Slacker’s Guide to Lofty Expectations

An early onset of monsoon in the city.
The rain pattering on the window panes
Makes me slip away into the memory lanes of yesterday.

When father used to stick his face out of the window to feel the caress of the gusty rain breeze,
As mother urged him to close the window to stop the dust from coming inside.
Her voice echoing over all nooks of the house,
Along with the delicious waft of batter-stained onion rings becoming hot fritters.
How it made my sister hit ‘Pause’ on the movie playing on her laptop and make a run for the kitchen,
And how I followed her with matching leaps,
Incessant giggles flying out of our mouths.

As I listen to the patter on my windowsill,
Memories take hold of the reins of my mind
And swerve me off to days spent with pals at school.
How the tall trees outside the grilled windows cast dark shadows everywhere,
Turning the world outside pitch black.
When recess pulled everyone out, only to return them with wet socks
And water-filled shoes that had just splashed on the big puddle outside,
Mischief in their eyes and excitement bubbling in their hearts
Drenched in the joy of holding hands and dancing in the downpour.
All worries of facing frowning mothers covered with the thin sheet of an excuse saying,
‘I forgot the umbrella home.’

All these memories bring me back to my present,
Where I sit near my window, staring at the downpour outside,
With the aroma of black coffee, from the mug in one hand, rising up to me
And the chocolate cake sent by my mother, in the other.
Holding innumerable ‘I love you’s and ‘Make sure you eat well’s.
With Lennon in my ears, singing of the places he’d always remember and never lose affection for;
I find his words streaming through my ears,
Flowing amidst the figments of the places that I revisit,
Gently tugging at my heart strings,
Leaving me smiling like a fool in the warmth of this dear and precious nostalgia.

(Something I wrote a long while ago during lunch break at work. Hope you like it!)

1-dle + 1-dle = ‘too’-dles… (sorry.)