SUMMER GET-TOGETHERS

Come Summer
in the evenings a few
women in the residential
colony
flock together and begin
chatting
their kids too accompany
them and
start playing
in a small stadium
just in front of
the chatting ladies.
Children play pranks
on each other, play
hide and seek games and
all sorts of little
little games.
Women quarrel not
argue not
they simply chat
interspersed with laughters.
They just want to
pass time, kill time
occasionally watching
and caring their kids
playing just in front.
Sometimes one or two
cars or cycles speed
down the streets
while they go on talking.
With dusk descending
and darkness falling
each woman with her
kid or kids after bidding
adieu for the day
walk the path to her
residence,
switches on lights and fans
with TVs
taking over the jobs.
Certain women stay
confined to their houses
they keep aloof from
the evening chats
some know not how to
mingle, some hesitate
and some feel superior to
others and feel partaking
in the evening meetings something
below status.
With the blanket of
darkness falling
those who
return from work to their residences
with luminous street lights
pervading the whole area
ladies with their vanity bags hanging
over their shoulders
and men with their
suit-cases in hands.
Come monsoon
the evening get-togethers end
with the rains
playing spoil-sport for a long span.