This song from the film ‘Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein’ might have been forgotten by many, though it was once a very famous song that was sung by legendary singer Kishore Kumar. But while thinking of the meaning of ‘real togetherness’ in the present times automatically reminded me of this song.
I am taken back to my childhood days where electronic exposure in the form of TV, Radio, Laptops, Mobile phones etc. was quite minimal or should I say – almost zero. Although my family was one of the first families that had a coloured television in our society and also a computer but my brother and me had restricted access to all of these.
In fact coming to think of it now one of the major activities that me and my family used to indulge on Sundays and holidays was to visit our farm house.
Situated almost 18 kms. away from our house we all used to enjoy the long car drive. My father and mother were totally in love with nature and farming. This perhaps was one reason why they bought a farm house.
We would leave early morning for the farm. I can still feel the cool breeze passing my hands while I waved my hands from the car’s window. It would be so refreshing! Further the first sight of marigold & rose flowers growing in the front portion of our farm house used to fill all of us with excitement and joy.
We had plenty of vegetables and fruits planted in the second half of the agricultural land. After getting down from the car my mom used to give some fresh fruits for my brother and myself to eat.
Next my father would take all of us accompanied by the local farmer family for a detailed farm tour. He would check the areas that needed his attention and took decisions on issues like water, harvesting etc. Meanwhile I and my brother used to busy ourselves by plucking fresh vegetables like peas and eating.
By mid-afternoon we all would retire under a thatched roof area while the farmer family would do arrangements for making Dal – Baati, a traditional dish made from lentils, flour and lots of pure ghee on the top. Once the arrangement was done and the fire lit, my mom with the help of farmer’s wife used to cook it for all of us. I haven’t eaten a Dal-Baati whose could match the flavors of that Dal-baati made by my mom on the old fashioned wood lit stove.
Eating together and indulging in nature related activities in such a serene place is my definition of real togetherness. Today we all are drifting to become more and more the so called ‘sophisticated’ but in this process aren’t we loosing out on real togetherness? Sitting in our cozy homes and getting work done on the click of a button while each one of the family members is busy with social networking on smart phones and laptops, it is time we retrospect our own definition of ‘real togetherness.’
