Once upon a time when people lived in homes where they had both land and terraces to themselves (chhat aur zameen), had good view of other people's homes and did not live in mid-air existence of box shaped homes, that is where my childhood memories stay.
We had a part of sky marked as our own with some stars and a moon thrown in for decent decoration!
During most of 1980s and 1990s the single/double storey homes at Shahjahanabad or Purani Dilli, terraces could give the view of Jama Masjid or even Red Fort and if you had higher 'tanki wali chhat' (where water tanks were kept) or 'barsaati room chhat' even better!!
The terrace was a special place in winters when we would sit on cots and peel oranges in the light winter sun after coming back from school. Older women would refresh razais and lihaafs and we would listen to endless stories and qissas of older generations or just their gossip.
In the early evening of summers we (children always ready to play with water usually got this duty) had to do the "chhirkav" or pour water on walls and floors on the roof before getting the cots out so that water cools down the roof temperature by the time people, mostly male members of the house, came to sleep upstairs. The ACs were not widely available and people used to prefer sleeping under the star lit skies with naturally cool air. Then there was also the additional duty of putting bistars on the cots.
We had a room on the terrace (barsaati) which had all the extra unused stuff /kabaad, an almirah where many books of my father were kept who had the habit of night-time reading and there was a bed too with a solitary bulb. All the beddings/bistars and folding cots were also kept here in this room. I often used to hide myself in all the unused stuff or smell the old books in the almirah or just lie there day dreaming only to be woken up by my Mom shouting my name and sending some neighbourhood kid to look for me!
We had a room on the terrace (barsaati) which had all the extra unused stuff /kabaad, an almirah where many books of my father were kept who had the habit of night-time reading and there was a bed too with a solitary bulb. All the beddings/bistars and folding cots were also kept here in this room. I often used to hide myself in all the unused stuff or smell the old books in the almirah or just lie there day dreaming only to be woken up by my Mom shouting my name and sending some neighbourhood kid to look for me!
During monsoons, children would bathe in the rain, the water outlet would be closed with bricks and a small desi swimming pool would be created for everyone to enjoy.
The houses were mostly open and you could also peep in and smell what others' were cooking in their kitchen.
The houses were mostly open and you could also peep in and smell what others' were cooking in their kitchen.
Many love stories started and died on these terraces, as young lovers stared into crush's homes and one could see boys and girls even at the height of summers on their rooftops (with no mobile phones available) throwing paper planes with messages on them or communicated through long-distance exaggerated hand movements/ 'ishaarebaazi'!
Kabootarbaazi (pigeon flying), kite flying with loud music sometimes even dancing were other activities that people enjoyed on terraces. 15th August Independence Day was always celebrated flying and gathering kites from other people's roofs.
Diwali and Dussehra fireworks were other views we looked forward to as kids on our terraces.
On Eid, Chand spotting was a special activity as everybody gathered on their rooftops to search for the elusive moon. Our neighbour 'Bhai Chand' and his bald brother would be subjected to some of the loudest jokes that people used to crack across terraces.
On our terrace, we (my brother and some other neighbourhood kids) played cricket mostly (some other games were also often attempted like football in the rains, violent hockey mostly to hit each other with, etc.) and whenever the ball flew to nearby homes the fight was always about who would fetch the ball and get the next strike with the bat. The special skill that I thought I had was climbing up/down on high walls of people's homes and then if ever any elder would catch us trespassing in their homes or on their terraces to sweetly try and wriggle out of the situation by conveying "Ammi's salams" and then as reply take their 'salaams' back to Ammi only to be scolded and reprimanded by my mother for doing too much 'awaaragardi'!
I had most of my accidents on terraces as well. As a child, I often fell from the stairs or somebody pushed from the wall or just fell trying to be 'brave' or 'showing off' some weird moves (often!! For example, the challenge would be how far you could climb up the terrace wall without falling down and eventually falling down from the wall and then be rushed to the Neighbourhood doctor with a bleeding head and be banished from climbing up any wall whatsoever for few days!! ).
The night time long conversations as teenager with my childhood friends about 'life's philosophy and dreams' were special as neither friendships nor philosophy or dreams survived the harsh realities of life.
At our old Shahjahanabad home, we still have the roof and the floor but the surrounding buildings have now gone four-five-six storeys high and there is just no view available from our two-storey home.
I now stay in a flat at Greater Noida and I cannot fly kites on the rooftops anymore :(
I now stay in a flat at Greater Noida and I cannot fly kites on the rooftops anymore :(
Another terrace story: My memory of Razai stitching on Rooftops
http://uzmaazharali.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-making-of-razai-quilt.html
