A nostalgia inducing shot of a charukasela in a kolaya of a typical tharavadu.

This veranda, and these chairs have seen many generation growing up, moving out, visiting again after years, and the inevitable, mourning around it. The house itself is approximately 120 years old, and my father, who is now in his late sixties, has fond memories of growing up there. He has spend much of his free time sharing the same corner of the veranda, with six of his siblings and with anyone or anything that walks, flies or crawls in there seeking shelter from the scorching summer sun.

I have felt the wrath of that sun too, and the tranquillity of lying back on one of these chairs, and put your feet up, and watch the world outside standing almost still in the summer heat, even birds taking shelter under banana leaves, squirrels making a dash across the courtyard to pick up a freshly fallen mango, or a hen and a bunch of chicks enjoying a bit of loose mud in the shade, and how the mother hen gets frustrated with her hyperactive chicks running around and issues stern warnings to come back to under her wings, how the cows stands still as if they are dreaming, while almost mechanically munching away the fresh hay that one of the servants spread in front of them, how the dog or dogs curl up at the far corner of the veranda and sleep without a care for anything, but if a bird chirps unusually, hen sends a warning to the chicks or if a crow lands too close to the veranda, he somehow seems to know that and spring into action pacing around the courtyard, looking furious about whatever happened was not without his approval, but only to come back in minutes and to lie exactly where he was before and to slumber into another sleep with a sigh.... This goes on till I fall asleep, postman calls in, which is not often, or one of the elders calls me over to join for tea in the dining room, it would be almost four in the evening by then, and the sun a lot weaker, and the life back to its normal speed.

As you can probably tell, I do miss those days, the days when I could sit starring into a empty courtyard and no one would worry about my time, things to do, or my state of mind...