Real Feeling

If I have to tell the incidents which made me feel close to nature and gave me a real feeling, I will go back to my childhood. I was raised in a town which was like a planned township. There the roads were wide and clean, and trees were planted on both sides of roads. There were plenty of playgrounds and open areas for kids to play. Every house had a garden, full of beautiful plants and trees which gave sweet fruits. That’s the place I grew up, that’s the place I lived the longest part of my life till now.

I and my friends used to play every evening in the nearby play ground, and once we were tired playing, we used to tell scary stories. I was the listener most of the time as I used to hear only Ramayana and Mahabharata stories from my mom, so I knew no ghost stories to share with my friends. Whenever I was not playing with my friends, I used to read story books or comics in our garden at “my Adda”. Yes I had an Aada in my garden, which I made. We used to have a papaya tree in the garden which was surrounded by many small show plants. There was not much space in-between for an adult to sit, but I placed some bricks there and made a place to sit for me. I was small that time, so when I used to sit in-between those plants it was difficult for others to find me, but I was able to see everythingJ. I used to sit there for hours and read books, play with my doll, sing songs, or simply look at people walking outside on road and used to cook up imaginary stories. I didn't like to share my adda even with my brother; no one else other than me was welcome there. Whenever I sat under that tree I had a very nice feeling, the real feeling.

Similarly, at my maternal grandparents place they had a big garden, and my grandfather had planted many veggies and flowers in the garden. Whenever I was at their place and my granny used to ask me to bring chillies for the curry, I used to run to the garden and pluck fresh green chillies for her. I used to help my grandfather in watering the plants, and used to feel very happy seeing flowers blooming on the plants. I used to chase the colorful butterflies and used to cross my finger and make a wish every time I used to see two myna birds together in the garden. All that used to make me feel very close to nature.

Time passed and I got busy with my studies, going out for playing reduced and then stopped. “My adda” was no more spacious enough to accommodate the grownup me. Now evenings were dedicated to the computer games and chatting with friends online. Still the walk in the garden and sitting in garden in summer nights, used to make me feel close to nature. When I got job and left my hometown, my last connection with the nature also broke down.

In the concrete jungle when people want to get close to nature, they go for a trek or take a trip to some jungle resort. I too did that, but the closeness I felt with nature during my childhood was not felt again.

But this last time when I visited my in-law’s place, this real feeling came back. They too live in a township, and have a huge garden in front of the house. They have many veggies and fruit trees in their garden, which resembles my maternal grandfather’s garden. My husband walked me through the garden and shared his childhood memories associated with those trees and the garden. One day I myself plucked tomatoes, chillies and coriander leaves from the garden and made spicy chutney with that. It tasted yummy and was very fresh. The feeling of growing your own food was amazing.

Whenever I am close to nature I feel very happy, and thankful to the Mother Nature for all her blessings. These are my real experiences, which are always very close to my heart.

This is my entry for The Kissan 100% Real Blogger Contest on indibloggr.