Snippets from the innocent yesteryear's

Snippet from the yesteryears.

Sunday. Dad in his home clothes- a faded teeshirt, the loose shorts; the knot done up in a perfectly manly bow. Black meshed plastered all over his hair- some of them dripping around his neck; boggy colored streams that smell like wet leaves and manure. His bushy mustache speckled and painted with Godrej-color black; mummy painstakingly coating each bristly, untamed strand with the creamy paste.

The Fridge stands woebegone and forlornly in the dining hall. It's red and the pain has chipped off from many places- it now seems more like a duet between a dejected maroon and rust. Today is it's doctor's appointment. Doctor Dad will yank open his door and pull off its power supply. It would then be rudely dragged out of its hiding place and a grim looking doctor would shake his head at the cobwebs and black dust that grinned maliciously at him. The veins of copper were afflicted with 'cobweb fever'. Unflinching, the Doctor would take up the towel from his table and unceremoniously dust out and beat the poor fridge's behind. Only when he was satisfied at the sight of the mutilated spider veins and grime staining the now -slowly- turning- coal black cloth, would he stop.

Nurse Mummy - in her freshly pressed sunday salwar and her face shining sticky with the paste of glycerine and rosewater would appear next to the good Doctor, ready to help him out with the next task. Poor fridge was afflicted with a bad case of 'stalagcities'. In the cold recesses of his freezer, sharp , translucent icicles had formed. It looked like a frozen expanse of bubbles- snowy white and flakey at some places; cruel cold and jagged pieces dropping down like unwanted canine teeth from the top.

Fridge flinched. The sight of the steel spoon always unnerved him. He knew the Doctor would, with all his strength jab at him, his entire body would shudder at the strength of the drive. Unrelenting at first but slowly the ice would melt and the canines would be reduced to the milky small teeth of a baby. Water would loop around its feet in a growing pool. Madam Nurse would mop it out vigorously and carefully- her dainty gold bangles bleating and clinking shyly.

One hour. Fridge would stare at the big, prim Ajanta clock sitting atop the kitchen counter-serenely munching at the minutes in his own unhurried pace. Such a long time it seemed! One hour seemed like an eternity. He couldn't even fidget and fret- the doctor had a surprisingly strong grip on him. All he could do was whirr and whine-and even that the doctor would turn a deaf ear!

*This was a sunday scene in my family when I was a pesty kid of 10. Always a happy thought :)*.

PS- I would love to hear about your childhood memories and maybe if u let me, I'll write something about it. :D.

Happy Bihu and Makar Sankranti!