It was a normal Tuesday night in April , when ten to twelve family members were under the same roof. From great grandparents to grandchildren, sitting and playing housie while laughter filled the air. This used to be a typical summer night for me until I hit my teens. Every year I would go to visit my mother’s side of the family in Kolkata.
When I try, I can still hear the bantering during board games and our late night conversations. Those days made me wish for a time machine, to rewind to that part of the year and live it all over again. And even if I could do it many times, I know it still would not be enough.
I believe everyone has that one place tied to their childhood warm summers. For me, it wasn’t just about the yummy mangoes, ice creams, or swimming sessions. It was the people who made it special, who made it what it truly was. A house has just four walls. It becomes a home with the people inside.
I have endless memories of those times , such as learning chess for the first time, fighting with my cousins over the smallest things, going to sports clubs to swim, shopping at nearby grocery stores, hosting little “performance nights” at home, and playing countless board games that somehow never got boring. Time felt slower then. It was almost as if it knew we wanted to hold on to it.
Everyone was so happy. Everything felt pure. It was the right place, at the right time, with the right people. That combination is rare in ways we only understand later.
Today, when I look back, summer feels more like something I look forward to just for a break. The same excitement has slowly worn off. It has been replaced by routine and responsibility. But maybe that’s what growing up does. It changes how we experience things, not how meaningful they were.
This has made me realize something simple but important which is that we never really know when a moment is going to be the last one. One last game, one last gathering, one last night filled with laughter. And because of that, it becomes even more important to live in the present while cherishing the people around us by holding onto memories we still can .
Because in the end, it’s not the place we miss the most , it is the feeling, and the people who made it feel like home. “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.” -Andy Bernard, The office.