Summer Holidays 4 - Palayamkottai

 Read Part 3 here 

There used to be a vast agriculture land near my grandfathers house. Usually during summer holidays in the month of May, the field will be empty. In fact I have never seen it green. It will always be dry with the left overs of the harvest. During evenings our favorite thing to do is go there and spend as much time as possible there. It is a great spot for flying kites. Far away we used to see passing trains. In between us and the train it is just the harvested paddy fields. Many times we used to attempt to walk till that railway line but never made it. 

We includes me and my holiday friends. These are friends I meet only during the summer holidays but we never felt that we had a years gap between our meeting. We will continue from where we left. It will be almost like nothing has changed. Those few days I spend with them has always felt like forever. Those days are so fresh in my memory. They have now have moved on to different parts and I was able to meet only one person few years back. 

The field used to contain purple flowers which used to smell like lemon. Another favorite activity is to fly kites from these fields. In city where the skyline is overflowing with cables and the fields used to provide unobstructed skies where many people can fly kites.

There used to be a small temple and a small shop near the temple. Small pocket pickles used to be favorite snack which we used to buy from the shop.  

There used to be many tamarind trees around and you will find lot of tamarinds in the ground. You will find ripe tamarinds, not so ripe, just right ripe etc. Each will taste unique.

The canal nearby used to be full of running water and I remember my Dad taking me for a swim. I used to be scared of the water and at the same time excited. But over a period it became dry and we used to cross the canal and go to the other side where we used to have huge trees. Now I can find only sewage water in the canal and there is a huge wall constructed on the other side so you cannot cross and go other side.

Playing with cycle tires used to be another favorite activity. Everyone will have a tire and a small stick to drive it. I remember the day when a protruding cable from the tire punctured my palm deep. I still have that mark in my palm.

I will leave the rest for part 5.