Come vacation, we could not wait to visit Naani’s place because that always gave us a sense of liberty. We could pursue our sinister whims with impunity and mom would not say a word because Naani is Maa ki maa, after all. We could binge on Achar or fly kites on her rooftop till hours on end breaking free the monotony or routine. But sadly, time seemed to pass faster on those vacations and we had to come back home. Needless to say, when we time travel into happy days in childhood, Naani’s house memories occupy a huge space. We could do these things in Naani’s place that we always have happy tears over:
We could binge on Achaar:
We are not least bit apologetic about repeating this after already having mentioned in the introduction. Achar made by Naani was always our favorite and it tasted way better when we sneakily sabotaged the bottles she left in the rooftop to catch some sun.
The pocket money that Naani gave us:
We would bug Naani out of her sanity for money until she finally gave in. Happy, we would throng the next grocery shop for some Phantom cigarettes or other indulgences. But Mama always played the villain as he asked her share in the money, albeit to tease us.
Naani ke haath ka khana:
We would give anything to get those delectable dishes served in succession with utmost adoration. Naani always made sure to make our favorite dishes at the news of our arrival. We could not even wait to wash our hands and gorge on them. Anything that Naani made, charmed our hearts effortlessly because of the main spice that she used abundantly, Pyaar.
Those hand-me-down gifts:
Naani’s wardrobe was a treasure-trove of collectibles which belonged to her younger days. We would always wait like hawks when she would allow us to lay our hands on them, just out of curiosity. But we would be overwhelmed with joy if she handed them down to us. That pleasure is unparalleled.
Gully-cricket FTW:
We always had friends awaiting us in Naani’s muhalla and we could not wait to hit the streets to play cricket for hours. We would just stop for lunch and snacks and those fun and frolics would not seem to stop. Such fun days they were.
Naani’s parting shots:
Naani had the warmest parting shots that always made us emotional and stayed with us for long. We came back home with heavy hearts, waiting when we can go back there again.
Naani’s house gave us the best memories in our childhood. We were pampered as heck there and our true colors were never judged.
