Down the memory lane...

There are 2 reasons for this post. One is Harry Potter, in whose half blood prince novel I got this funda of "going down the memory lane". Indeed, if I could go down the memory lane the scenes and sites I would see are described the poem below. The other reason is Shraff (the solo commentrator on my blog!!), in whose description of his home town, I saw my very own small town and its lazy days. The poem also celebrates this reminiscence and nostalgia.

It was a quiet winter morning, cloudy,cold and damp,
I peeped in my box,lighting the old memory lamp.
Slowly I walked down the memroy lane,soft breeze kissing my face,
Leaves fell on my feet,each with its own story to narrate.

I sat with my parents, huddled close around the hearth,
There was laughter, joy and blissful mirth.
Life seemed to be as merry, as it could ever be,
Though we did not have a "pizza hut" and we didnt even have TV.

I was loafing around the small town with a group of friends,
We all were callow,but our ambitions were grand.
Those were pure hearts without any guile,
In vain I search this in my colleagues "official" synthetic smiles.

I was on my roof,my eyes fixed on sky,
Too eager to get that free and floating kite
We would jump across roofs and go for a kill,
Can any computer game bring back this thrill?

I walked through the annual town fair,
Saw rustic damsels vying to buy trinkets and other ware,
Anklets jingling, their voices shy yet confident,
I remembered pub visiting-mini-clad ladies..ah what a differnce!

I was going to market and each trip was a great journey,
For at every shop there was a new discovery!
Those shops and those "mandis" of my town,
Can any "Foodworld" bring back that charm?

Neighbourers so concerned, they would welcome you home,
Your problem they will treat as if it were their own.
Lots of bonhomie,"mohalla" was a small family,
Can I expect this today from the next door auntie?

The neem tree outside,its cool and gentle breeze,
It will blend with jingling cowbells to lull me to sleep,
The silent night and soft sound of night windmill,
Today we seek this at costly resorts on hills!

I saw a lazy life,on streets bicycles roll on,
whoever heared of the word pollution?
A cool life, it moved hurryless and without tension,
I remembered engulfing smoke enroute to office at 10 AM.

I went to my school,to its huge building and ground,
Saw cheerful children talking and moving around,
Their faces so innocent,their lives without tension,
I remembered my young cousin reeling under the burden of 3hr tuition!

I walked and walked relishing old times and sounds,
Through streets, houses and markets of my old town.
Missed bonhomie, silence,innocence and emotions
Compared them with present, its hurried commotion.

I came out of my nostalgia, back to present,
Knowing my walk was wistful but pleasant!
I have lost childhood, steeped in life's dry chores,
Still I often seek that wisdom in Calvin and Hobbes!

Ah the past with all its beauty,
Its sweet, its wonderful, its a brilliant memory..
Life goes on,things change, we become so vain,
Still it helps to search my roots down the memory lane.