When I Was Young

Joji Varghese Kuncheria When I was Young My childhood seems like yesterday, I grew up in our family's rubber estate, With my parents and grandparents, In a tropical hilly place with no lights. The climate was tropically serene, Except for the monsoon showers, which come with lightning and thunder, Yet we used to chill out in the rain. We had all kinds of organic splendour, Jack fruits and mangoes of all varieties, Cashew nuts and bananas of all kinds, Guava, lemon, berries and pineapples. I used to run around like a busy bee, On weekends at mother's command, Plucking ripe pepper and coffee beans, To be dried and ground for the week. Playing around with younger siblings, Badminton, cricket, football and so on, Still nostalgic to remember those days, Of my childhood in the estate we had. *******