The day my future met my past

She lives and works in Mumbai. A mother of a 10-year old girl child, she loves reading and escaping to nature vacations.

I grew up in a small town in Uttar Pradesh. My childhood was spent amidst mango orchards and dadima’s make believe tales. Before I could even realize, my days of climbing up the mango trees were over. And I found myself looking for nooks of peace in the vastness of a city life.

Many years later, I was blessed with a baby girl. As she grew up, she was fed with humble doses nutrition and my escapades with nature. Like a typical city-grown kid, she was not really exposed to nature. Worse, she showed no inclination to get close to it.

We got an opportunity to visit my ancestral home when she was 10. I was surprised to discover how the landscape had changed. Thankfully, the mango orchard was still there. One lazy afternoon, while everyone was asleep, I took a walk down my memory lane. While I was strolling through the orchard, feeling nostalgic about the moments left behind, I suddenly heard a loud yell. A girl voice, which sounded known to me, was screaming “mamma” from a distance. I looked back to meet the most pleasant surprise of my life. My daughter was atop a tree, happily basking in her achievement.

That sight brought back my childhood to me in a jiffy. My stories of childhood and climbing trees that my daughter grew up with finally bore fruit. Mother Nature has snuggled me in her arms once again, this time in the avatar of my little princess.

Priyanka sahu