Gone are those Early Mornings...

It's a foggy winter morning
The ones when I cannot imagine waking up at six
And dressing myself into a school uniform.
And yet I did the same
for ten to twelve years

With the sleepy eyes, a heavy head, palavering mum
A hot cup of milk waiting for me
Bag packed by amma and lunch made my mummy
Off to school in those foggy mornings!
O what fun it was! Hoards of students waiting at the bus stand
At six fifteen.. Those frigid mornings, papa standing beside me
making small jokes, pointing a cat here or there,
We dreamt big on those cold mornings, we still do.

And then the bus would come, and I would rush
Leaving him behind and jostling my way in the crowd
Once I am inside, wave him a smile again.
He would always wait a few minutes after I left
Lest I would jump back again for want of change,
Or a forgotten book,
Or with a frown say, 'no mood', I want to go back home
He would wait till he was sure I was safely on my way.

I would have lost my sleep by then.
And then get worried about the books
for forgetting them at home again.
We walked our way from the bus stand to school
and walked the way back, aashish and me.
After that running about the school campus,
I would finally slag up to the class.

Friends would give me a fond smile that said, 'Forgot again!'
I would scutter for a text book
And then Deepali or Nishtha or Garima would slide their text towards me
We would push and thrust the book on our sides and thus would start a game;
And giggle and talk in whispers till teacher said 'ssshhhhh'
Then after the lunch break, we would get rid of those maroon sweaters
Knot those on the shoulder or the waist
Or simply dump them on the bench and gossip about at length...

Gone are those early mornings of rush that I try to get hold of even now
Those were different winters, this is a different cold ...