Sunday, September 19, 2010

A Random Happy Childhood Memory

The scorching summer sun pelted beams that penetrated right through the skin. Its accomplice, the Central Indian heat wave bellowed through the vegetable gardens where a wizened old man squatted unfazed by the harshness of nature, examining the latest watermelon crop. Excited to spot another sign of human life at siesta time when most adults were in deep slumber, I climbed down from the second highest branch of my favorite tree on which I sat perched reading Tom Sawyer. In a drab, yellow world around 3:00 pm in which even monkeys shied away from playing, I, a mischievous 10-year old tomboy was engrossed in her ever-colorful world of fantasy, adventure and explorations. I visited my uncle for a month every summer, who by virtue of being a high official in the Indian government, was posted in the remotest parts of rural India and lived in government estates from the time of the British Raj. His houses always had sprawling gardens and I often became great friends with the gardeners.

I ran over to Rahim Uncle who had worked on this estate for 30 years. Baked, dark-brown skin, kind, watery eyes and lips that effortlessly carved into a smile, he was clearly touched by my eagerness to share his passion. My questions about watermelons knew no end; they ranged from gardening techniques to grow watermelons in my tiny excuse of a garden in New Delhi, a bustling metropolis in Northern India to the number of watermelons that could fit in our suitcases if I took out all the clothes. As my reward for asking "brilliant" questions, I was actually allowed to pluck the biggest and the most precious watermelon in the garden. I remember it being too heavy for me, so we carried my prize together to the nearest mini-well and tossed it in water. Voila! it floated-- it was ripe and ready to be eaten! Exhilirated, I ran and gave his legs a big hug. He just laughed, and said, "Daughter, study hard so that you can own an estate with a big garden someday. I will pray for you." I just nodded, innocent, dreamy, blissful.