Reliving a memory

- Arjun Gurung

It’s hot and stuffy as I sit at my computer. With sweat trickling down my sides, I can only imagine what Death Valley must feel like. The breeze is absent and the humid air isn’t helping me fight the perspiration. There’s no water in the taps. I am at the mercy of the wind.

I look out of my window. From here I can see on the roof tops of the adjacent building, 5 long Buddhist flags that are standing still – like flags on the moon. Refreshment comes along – a cup of tea. I decide to let it cool first. I wait for the first signs of the wind.

I remember what I had heard as a kid while flying kites – that if you whistled the wind would blow. I remember how it used to work like a charm. I decide to try it again. I whistle the tune of a song. A slight breeze touches my face. It seems to be working. A minute later, the breeze picks up momentum. I look at the building outside. The Buddhist flags are fluttering. Yellow, green, red, white and blue in color, the silky flags are a refreshing sight. The cool breeze relieves me from the torturous summer heat. Without realising it, once again, I’m on my roof flying a kite in the blue skies.

I know that the wind came on its own and not because of my whistling, but there are some things, more appropriately, memories that you don’t want to let go of- ever. Such memories make us want to believe in things that we now know aren’t possible. On the outside we may scoff at them and yet deep inside we still want to believe in them. The fact is we may grow old, but within every one of us is a child- and a childhood that we would love to relive again.