#My attempt to paint a picture of my winter morning as a kid.
Little Mallika woke up to the sound of chirping birds and warm ray of sunshine striking her face. She ran outside to watch the fog covered mountains while her naked feet felt the trembling damp winter soil. She walked from flower to flower counting the number of dew drops on the white, pink and red petals of button rose. She also criss crossed the spider webs with tiny dew drops.
She woke her little sister Jaaji and both of them ran to the water stream behind their house. Jaaji showed Mallika the layer of winter smoke moving swiftly across the water surface. The water was chilling cold. They quarrelled to brush their teeth with chilling cold water. They ran near Rambo, pet dog, who was almost inside the firewood place warming himself. He allowed them to sit beside him and warm their feet. The smell of coffee flowers in their backyard was filling the air beautifully. They further went and spoke to Putti, Sridevi, Gowri, Kempi; their pet cows in the cattle shed by brushing their forehead. Every cow and calf in the house had a sweet name that everyone called dearly with.
As these little ones were busy checking on everyone, they missed to keep an eye on the clock. The clock was fast ticking and their mother started shouting at them that they were getting late to school. They freshened up with piping hot water that was boiled with the fire hood near Rambo. Now, the smell of Paddu was hitting their nose. They ate soft spongy Paddu with spicy coconut chutney, drank a cup of warm milk with a drop of coffee decoction, got ready for school wearing navy blue and white uniform with a mandatory blue sweater, sat on their dad’s scooter and waved Amma bye.
The mornings were warm and silent. There was no hurry. We had less money than now. We had fewer clothes than now. We had access to less exotic food than the unlimited access to cuisines from all over the world. We were all content. I want to try to bring the life of minimalism back in 2020!