It's been two years now that I have been shifted from the “city of joy” — Kolkata — to the “city of dreams” — Mumbai. I have realised in this period that monsoon is a big thing in this city. Apart from the cooling showers, which bring a respite from months of the gruelling heat, this season is characterised by diseases and death, stories of neglect by the municipal authorities, open gutters, discussions on the substandard quality of roadwork resulting in potholes and, above all, flooding. And it’s been the same year after year.
However, for me, there is one thing about the monsoons that bring back fond memories of childhood... fond memories of those days that I spent in Kolkata... fond memories of some serious football action in the slush.
This used to be the beginning of a “new season” for us when we all geared up for football matches played solely in mud and slush after months of playing cricket in dry and humid conditions.
I get nostalgic about those days in Kolkata when we (I and my friends) used to rush out of our houses the moment we used to hear the first clap of thunder. Even though there were 3 large grounds close to my house, none of them used to have even an inch of space with 5-6 parallel “matches” going on.
Soon, even our “team” used to make a grand entry into the ground. For no reason, we used to dive in all parts of the ground. Football skills used to take a backseat. We used to slip and fall (deliberately), laugh and in between also score some goals.
Even the timing of the monsoons couldn’t have been better — just after the beginning of a new academic year when there used to be no exam tension. None of us were ever worried about falling sick or missing school.
What followed after the “match” used to be even more interesting. All charged up, we used to jump into this nearby old swimming pool of green slime and have the time of our lives on the pretext of trying to clean ourselves up before heading home. We were told that this pool, which had been lying unused for a while, used to be pristine clear in its heydays. That was our only consolation before jumping into the “dark green” water body.
Looking back, I miss those days a lot. It feels worse every time I visit Kolkata, for all that I see is a new building that has sprung up in those places that used to be our playground.
When I see the children in my locality playing in the “gulli”, I wonder, will any of them ever experience the fun of getting wet in the rains and rolling in the slush... will they ever experience the feeling of being in a winning team... a team that has won by an insane scoreline of 17-0 or 25-0 in a “para” football match in the rain?
