100 Rays Of Son - 55

The Ancestral Pool – Byndoor Talaw

If I ask Rayyan the best entertainment he had and the most he enjoyed his time, he usually mentions the pool in Byndoor where he learnt swimming, diving, jumping and many other antics. This is the same place where my dad had learnt swimming, and he said it was there long before his childhood and that his ancestors learnt swimming there as well. Rayyan’s father also had lot of stories to narrate about this pool where he enjoyed with his friends.

Initially I was very sceptical about Rayyan swimming there because there was too much of noise, and moreover the water did not look clean. I was afraid that he may drown or get hurt. But later I realized that is maintained and cleaned regularly and noise was because children were having fun. Believe me it was as tough getting Rayyan into the water as much as it is tough getting him out of it.

He was hesitant and scared to get into the pool and it took a lot of coaxing from me to get him there. I have another story of how my brother and I actually threatened him into getting into dangerous waters without realizing it back then that it could have landed him in trouble.

The Byndoor talaw (pond or pool in local dialect) has an attraction, tradition and rules of its own which almost everyone follows with few exceptions. One of the best part of it is, though many are against the use of it, most of them will encourage children to play and learn swimming there during the rainy season and few months thereafter. Someone will take charge of teaching newcomers to learn swimming. It had its drawback as well, but it was quite entertaining most of the times.

Similarly, one person took charge of Rayyan and taught him to swim. Within two months, Rayyan started waiting for his sessions in the talaw and would be very excited being there. Soon there were few regular friends and companions for Rayyan to have fun in the pool. These children waited for monsoon as though their life depended on it. The month of May starts with discussion about Farheena’s birthday plans, but as soon as 11^th May was over, the discussion would be only about the rains. Even with few trickling drops of rain, these children would run to the talaw to check whether it was fit for swimming. It was really funny, because they themselves knew that it required 4-6 heavy rains to fill the pool but they just couldn’t wait.

I am not sure how many parents were as happy as me to send their children to have fun, even when it rained heavily. All the illness which came with monsoons were blamed on the swimming in talaw. But children would somehow escape and rush to the pool.

This was the first time in his life Rayyan became very bold with trying out new diving tricks, swimming for longer periods and diving deep which I never thought he was capable of. Within few months I could see physical changes in him as well, with natural muscles covering his body. He looked quite different all of sudden. His immunity increased and he became quite strong after his swimming experiences. He continued to swim in sea as well, when monsoons were over. Besides cycling, swimming is something Rayyan is very passionate about. The problem I face is, Rayyan doesn’t want to come out of water, once he gets in there.

This is one of the great fun Rayyan had during his stay in Byndoor. Even when we shifted to Bangalore, Rayyan would look forward to visit to Byndoor during monsoon so that he could swim in the talaw again. Slowly, all of his friends moved away to different cities for jobs and the group broke up. The talaw stopped beckoning him to its bosom. The tradition though continues with more youngsters continuing to enjoy the water and learning to swim there.