Travelling Back to the time before the Masks

Life was much different befor the Covid times. It was a time when people didn"t fear to bond, be close to one another. Most importantly, people could see the smiles which are now hidden behind a mask. Parishmita Gogoi recounts the extraordiness of simplicity in a typical Assmese village before the outbreak of the pandemic.

- Parishmita Gogoi

Imagine a place where you could roam freely, discover new trails every single day, catch a fish, eat wild fruits, and roll in the mud without any care. My Anai’s (maternal grandmother) village was my fairyland growing up and continues to be among my favourite places to visit even now. The name of the village is “Bengmuria Konwar Gaon” near Simaluguri in Sivasagar district. My Deuta (father) never took us on any fancy holidays, and this small, typical Assamese village was my holiday heaven. I used to count the days until the end of school so that I could visit this wonderland. A day starts with a gentle pat from Anai (maternal grandmother) who would wake me up and invite for the traditional morning tea.

The morning tea is usually a cup of laal saah (red tea) accompanied by pitha, a homemade snack made of rice flour. Anai prepares them under an extended shack in the backyard where a kettle and a sauce-pan are always in a ready-to-serve mode for the entire day. In the middle of their respective chores, everyone would come back for another cup on a break.

There is an innocent affection among the owners, their cattle, crops and the entire surrounding. They milk the cows and release them for grazing by morning. Also, the lady of the house sieves rice, the primary cultivation of the state, to serve her family and guests for the day.