When homesick, just like anyone else, I am also very good at wandering through memory lanes of my childhood in my mind. Firstly, it's a cheap trip like this as I don't pay a single cent dreaming, literally. Planning a vacation to motherland-Pakistan from Canada comes with a hefty price tag. Secondly, the self-therapy method cheers me back up instantly...no external therapist needed, no fee paid!
I grew up in an urban town of Karachi in an area where there was a hilly range and lots of trees. The hill provided a great backdrop to our house and everyone of our visitors would be fascinated by the landscape. Then there was a mosque at the foot of these hills which made the area look even more enticing.. The rest of area was based on villa like modern houses, neatly spread out on a well planned lay-out of this town.
Our house was a big house in the corner that welcomed all, both seasons and friends,with open arms. The best of the seasons to enjoy in my house was the summers. The rooms were big and airy, the ceilings were moderately high so the heat stayed up there while the ceiling fans breezed the rooms cool and ,maintained temperatures to a tolerable level. The grilled windows kept it all secure and flowy at the same time... good air in bad air out!
On days when it would rain, playing in the forecourt would be a treat. Instead of going to a splash pad in a theme park, the rapids would come to you. So cheap fun gave big thrills at home rather than we go to it!!
Walled housing is a norm in Pakistani architecture. Our house was walled all around by six feet high, heavy cemented block walls. All around the inner boundary,the house was lined with tropical fruit trees. Our mother, who was an avid gardener, always worked with a plan in her garden.The trees were planted for each one of us.... her seven children.This made each one of us, four sisters and three brothers, an owner of a tree. Wow what a treasure to own... I never saw the value then or had the sense to see this as a little girl, but I can see that now when I recall.
'Ammi', as that's what we called mom, loved to be lost and found in her garden, while 'Abbajan', our father, spent hours in his study submerged in his books, researching and writing. I saw their personalities through the colours of their thumbs; his blue with ink and hers always green. Her green thumb would stir life in dying plants in the garden and help our trees to bear fruit for us.She knew the majic and art of nurturing by instinct, not through manuals.She had to...she was a mother afterall!
There was home grown fruit year round and some one of us would get the credit for the harvest. Seldom we would realise that the actual one to be applauded should be mom!
There would be mangoes, almonds, jamans, falsas, custard apples, pomegranates, bananas to relish.Some fruit of the season would always be there, either on the table or in the fridge. Nagging mom for more was never forgotten, but recognition of her labour??.... always overlooked!.
The fruit trees were always noticed as each one had a distinct appearance and mystery about it.
None of the trees intrigued me. My fascination and interest was only in my favourite.....the almond tree. A huge tall tree with a widespread shade, this tree had something about it which always attracted me towards it. Its flat,oblong, thick velvety,veiny leaves..., the small , red hard almonds with a bitter sweet pulp around its pip....its sturdy branches spreading out of a tough thick trunk, the height enabling it to rest its long branches on the roof of the house.... all was too fascinating for a day- dreamer girl. This tree was capable of comforting me under its cool shade on a scorching afternoon.Its thick trunk was just the right width for a little girl to wrap her arms around it and hug. The branches, while swaying and gliding with the breeze, would never refuse this little girl to perch on them.
Inspiration comes from anywhere and anything. As a little girl I drew my inspiration fom the almond tree and its branches. I learnt to slowly climb up the tree, crawl on its branches and carefully reach for the rooftop where the branches would rest. This became my daily afternoon drill when I would sneak out of my mother's bed, disobey her orders to nap, and go out and test my skills. Gradually I mastered the whole ritual and qualified myself to the highest level of achievement in this climb game.I became a pro in reaching the topmost tough branch and sit up in the tree and enjoy the view from the top. The feeling of accomplishment was similar to that of a climber who posts a flag on the Himalayas. Conquered.... yayyy!!
They say what you do as a kid is an indicator of your future personality.The type of an adult you grow up into rests much upon the kind of opportunities and environment you were extended and exposed to as a child.This is why the experts reiterate that a child's formative years stretched upto the teen years play the most crucial part in the formation of his future personality traits.
My fascination with the almond tree in my childhood, became an idicator to a lot of my future personality traits. I still love to day dream, get inspired and fascinated by nature, enjoy outdoors more than indoors, venture and explore, take trips, take challenges in my stride and work with confidence in situations. Even today as a mother of three successful grown up adults, the stimulation embedded in my personality from my childhood, guides me to strategise, manouver and plan my life goals and situations.
I learnt a lot from my almond tree as a kid..it's generosity and selflessness, the two qualities of a mother, inspired me the most. I think it's from the almond tree that I also learnt that giving was better than taking...like unconditional motherly love ..... like an eternal spring!!
I grew up in an urban town of Karachi in an area where there was a hilly range and lots of trees. The hill provided a great backdrop to our house and everyone of our visitors would be fascinated by the landscape. Then there was a mosque at the foot of these hills which made the area look even more enticing.. The rest of area was based on villa like modern houses, neatly spread out on a well planned lay-out of this town.
Our house was a big house in the corner that welcomed all, both seasons and friends,with open arms. The best of the seasons to enjoy in my house was the summers. The rooms were big and airy, the ceilings were moderately high so the heat stayed up there while the ceiling fans breezed the rooms cool and ,maintained temperatures to a tolerable level. The grilled windows kept it all secure and flowy at the same time... good air in bad air out!
On days when it would rain, playing in the forecourt would be a treat. Instead of going to a splash pad in a theme park, the rapids would come to you. So cheap fun gave big thrills at home rather than we go to it!!
Walled housing is a norm in Pakistani architecture. Our house was walled all around by six feet high, heavy cemented block walls. All around the inner boundary,the house was lined with tropical fruit trees. Our mother, who was an avid gardener, always worked with a plan in her garden.The trees were planted for each one of us.... her seven children.This made each one of us, four sisters and three brothers, an owner of a tree. Wow what a treasure to own... I never saw the value then or had the sense to see this as a little girl, but I can see that now when I recall.
'Ammi', as that's what we called mom, loved to be lost and found in her garden, while 'Abbajan', our father, spent hours in his study submerged in his books, researching and writing. I saw their personalities through the colours of their thumbs; his blue with ink and hers always green. Her green thumb would stir life in dying plants in the garden and help our trees to bear fruit for us.She knew the majic and art of nurturing by instinct, not through manuals.She had to...she was a mother afterall!
There was home grown fruit year round and some one of us would get the credit for the harvest. Seldom we would realise that the actual one to be applauded should be mom!
There would be mangoes, almonds, jamans, falsas, custard apples, pomegranates, bananas to relish.Some fruit of the season would always be there, either on the table or in the fridge. Nagging mom for more was never forgotten, but recognition of her labour??.... always overlooked!.
The fruit trees were always noticed as each one had a distinct appearance and mystery about it.
None of the trees intrigued me. My fascination and interest was only in my favourite.....the almond tree. A huge tall tree with a widespread shade, this tree had something about it which always attracted me towards it. Its flat,oblong, thick velvety,veiny leaves..., the small , red hard almonds with a bitter sweet pulp around its pip....its sturdy branches spreading out of a tough thick trunk, the height enabling it to rest its long branches on the roof of the house.... all was too fascinating for a day- dreamer girl. This tree was capable of comforting me under its cool shade on a scorching afternoon.Its thick trunk was just the right width for a little girl to wrap her arms around it and hug. The branches, while swaying and gliding with the breeze, would never refuse this little girl to perch on them.
Inspiration comes from anywhere and anything. As a little girl I drew my inspiration fom the almond tree and its branches. I learnt to slowly climb up the tree, crawl on its branches and carefully reach for the rooftop where the branches would rest. This became my daily afternoon drill when I would sneak out of my mother's bed, disobey her orders to nap, and go out and test my skills. Gradually I mastered the whole ritual and qualified myself to the highest level of achievement in this climb game.I became a pro in reaching the topmost tough branch and sit up in the tree and enjoy the view from the top. The feeling of accomplishment was similar to that of a climber who posts a flag on the Himalayas. Conquered.... yayyy!!
They say what you do as a kid is an indicator of your future personality.The type of an adult you grow up into rests much upon the kind of opportunities and environment you were extended and exposed to as a child.This is why the experts reiterate that a child's formative years stretched upto the teen years play the most crucial part in the formation of his future personality traits.
My fascination with the almond tree in my childhood, became an idicator to a lot of my future personality traits. I still love to day dream, get inspired and fascinated by nature, enjoy outdoors more than indoors, venture and explore, take trips, take challenges in my stride and work with confidence in situations. Even today as a mother of three successful grown up adults, the stimulation embedded in my personality from my childhood, guides me to strategise, manouver and plan my life goals and situations.
I learnt a lot from my almond tree as a kid..it's generosity and selflessness, the two qualities of a mother, inspired me the most. I think it's from the almond tree that I also learnt that giving was better than taking...like unconditional motherly love ..... like an eternal spring!!
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