The Lychee Tree

It was the summer of 2004. 5 of us huddled under this litchi tree on a small cot. Nani had just gotten us the morning snack; One glass each of bournvita milk and parleG biscuits. The issue at hand was to decide what games we would play when the electricity goes off right in the middle of our favorite cartoon telecast that afternoon. We weren't allowed to go out in the sun on summer afternoons. But the evening was sorted. We'd come back to sit under the tree; play, gossip, make fun of each other, anticipate the ripening of litchi and plucking of green mangoes till we got called inside for dinner.

It's the summer of 2020 lockdown. 5 of us are stuck on our cell phones and laptops most of the time. Morning snacks cannot be afforded amidst the distorted sleep cycle and busy schedules we have. Issues in our lives are many, but none are mutual. So we've kept them to ourselves. The evenings are never sorted just like the mornings. We still try to relive those memories with video calls that happen once in a few months. Which only faintly helps us go back to the cool breeze under the litchi tree. The tree still stands tall in Nani's yard. We remember it vividly but it never comes up in our conversations.

Once this chaos is over; 
All that I can hope for is to go back and sit under this tree some day, ask Nani for a few extra ParleG biscuits and an extra scoop of bournvita in my milk, and wait for the lychee to ripen.🌳

- Vidushi Dobhal