Afternoons in the December Sun

I love Delhi during this time of year. the afternoon temperatures are just right. the Sun isn't scorching down and there is this light breeze too, which makes the whole environment so pleasant. The sun is at its best behaviour during this time of year.

Balmy winter afternoons remind me uf old times. When I was at school, we used to be a group of about eight walking back from the bus stop, a cackling bunch usually delirious with excitement at the thought of reaching home, especially if it was a Friday afternoon, our heavy bags on our shoulders, our sweaters comfortably knotted around our waist, black shoes brown with dust.
Once home, Bro and I would change out of our uniforms, eat our lunch and then sit in the verandah to soak in the sun and do our homework. Naniji, our neighbour with a perennial smile (and a golden heart) would be invariably knitting a sweater for one of her kin and there would be freshly washed genhu (wheat) spread on the charpayi drying in the December sun. Since our homes were 20 steps apart there was constant interaction between the homes. I remember munching on the grains of wheat, picking up handfuls of what Naniji termed 'chocolate'. I remember their chewy texture and warmth as they baked in the December sun.
In college, there were days of basking in the Andrews Court at St. Stephen's my alma mater. Where humans and dogs were equally loved and respected and were 'entitled to find their place in the Sun' - so usually one would find a lazy dog, stretched right beside a group of us basking in the warmth of the glorious December sun! Law college days and marriage and exams coincided so some December afternoons were dedicated to poring over constitutional law, contract act, also cutting vegetables for evening supper, folding dried up clothes and falling asleep in the middle of those times in the glorious December Sun. Then work happened and I could savour the warmth of the December Sun only on and off. But i try and make the most of it now. Enjoying the memories of those moments spent in the glorious December sun, its rays warming my sweater, causing my brown cheeks to turn red. So i will go for my stroll tomorrow after lunch and enjoy the warm December sun and relive my memories of it.