Fireflies and a glimmer of childhood

It was hot and there were long power outages but we rarely complained during those sultry summer nights of the 1980s. We had more exciting things to do in our Baji-ka-ghar (maternal grandfather’s home) that stood in the narrow lanes of Jammu.  After bolting down our dinner, we scurried up to the rooftop (locally referred to as kothe) and jumped onto the folding beds and charpais that were ready and waiting for us, and we star-gazed! It was our chalchitra (cinema), the sky was an endless black screen filled with twinkling stars.   Summer vacations meant a gathering of cousins at my grandfather’s home. The charpais on the rooftop were lined up (sometimes extra ones had to be borrowed by the neighbours) and each one was meant to be shared by two of us.  
The image is representational. Credit: Gen AI https://deepai.org/
The image is representational. Credit: Gen AI https://deepai.org/
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“An ode to the hot summer nights of the 80s when fireflies came in swarms and put on a soundless light show as we lay on our backs staring at the million stars in the sky.”

</a> <strong><em>The image is representational. Credit: Gen AI <a href=
The image is representational. Credit: Gen AI

There was always a race to spot the saptarishi, the constellation of the seven sages, as we lay on our backs staring at the million stars. It was only much later that I learnt the constellation’s formal name (and rather boring name, I thought) – Ursa Major.

Power outages plunged the entire neighbourhood into quiet darkness and it only made the stars shinier and even more beautiful. We whispered and giggled till some grown-up from the verandah downstairs, who was trying to sleep, would tick us off.

There was more magic to come. Watching the stars was just a prelude to the main feature film that followed… Out of nowhere appeared some more tiny stars, but this time they floated around our beds in the dark. We could even touch them! They were the jugnoos or fireflies!

Decades later, I still remember the first time I saw them on the terrace at Jammu. I was awestruck and also scared (having been bitten by wasps several times).

</a> <strong><em>The image is representational. Image Credit/Gen AI <a href=
The image is representational. Image Credit/Gen AI
</a> <strong><em>The image is representational. Image Credit/Gen AI <a href=
The image is representational. Image Credit/Gen AI
</a> <strong><em>The image is representational. Credit: Gen AI <a href=
The image is representational. Credit: Gen AI

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