Decades ago, when there was scarcely any electricity in rural areas, days in summer were long, hot and humid. Dogs slumbered languidly at the backyard of our house as the blazing sun sapped the spirit out of them ; they hardly rose to their feet and barked. The muddy track snaking through the village simmered in the heat as we looked at from a shady distance. Parched and starved, we returned home from the play ground and sat cross-legged at lunch, sweating profusely, beads of sweat dripped down the forehead onto our food as we ate away, our mother fannig us with hand-crafted fans.

Today,everything is changed beyond recognition as we sit at the dinning table under the cooling fan, with our mother looking at us from a distance.

_________ D. S.