Telugu: Itha Chandraiah

English: D. Ranga Rao

It was eight when I got off the bus at Nangunoor. I started walking on the lake bund holding the suitcase. The breeze was cool…. The atmosphere was pleasant. The lake, brimful of water, seemed like a woman big with child. The lotuses which were blossoming forth kissed each other at the movement of the waves. Young girls in their teens, adjusting their pallu ends of their vonis son their voluptuous curves of their bosoms, were coming _ opposite me like the beautiful streaks of lightning. They were not just the personification of smiles. They were fully blossomed flowers. The boys were swimming in the lake. The surroundings were all familiar to me. Yet I was being tickled into happiness by their beauties. Beyond the lake the Nagareswar temple. I stopped there automatically.

I placed the suitcase on the ground, removed the chapels and saluted the deity with a namaskar. I was lost in a religious trance for a while.

I saw mother in uncle's house. She was talking to a girl. "Mother!" I called. My entire being was over-whelmed with joy and happiness.

"Babu!" she responded, walked towards me and embraced me . A mother's hug….. how much happiness it encases!. The girl who was talking to mother went in. The accosting of uncle and aunty was as affectionate and warm as ever.