Rooftops

Yeah rooftops have been a major "playzone" in my growing up years......and the ones I'm referring to here, are not the flat concrete rooftops , but the sloping mangalore tiled roofs and the ones with curved tiles (i forget the name).

There were different purposes for which I had set my feet on them. Well the first "official" time I did so was to hang up the Christmas star over our house rooftop, where the two slopes met. It was almost like I was presented with the forbidden fruit. Then on, I went on to my own exploits and conquests. Okay it's really hard to describe it here, but the roof of our house was connected to a hostel block and to the Director's bungalow. So it was like a substantial area to cover, with tree branches falling over it and lots of levels to tackle. And to reach the roof of our house I had to take the longer route via the director's bungalow to obviously avoid my parents seeing their son climbing up and walking on a roof to do silly things like plucking berries from the tree (this was on the rear side of the hostel), kite conquests, retrieving plastic balls that would get stuck up in the branches of huge neem trees that covered the roof and a few other "missions".
Sometimes I would climb up on the roof and sit hidden in the shade and camouflage of a tree and look at my school building which was visible in the vicinity, or admire the church tower within the school campus and while away the afternoon.

At other times, it almost used to be like a military mission without any navigator or comrade to help me. I knew the directions and the ways of evading people on the ground to the T. It demanded superb concentration skills and reflexes; keeping an eye on the watchman, so that he wouldn't spot me on the roof, bending down and moving across areas that were in direct cone of vision of our house, keeping out of the vision of the people in the director's bungalow area (of course even his rooftop wasn't left unexplored) All this whilst moving on the slope of the roof which was at a considerable angle, with the treacherous and slippery mangalore tiles. Whoever said "practice makes a man perfect" couldn't have been more apt.

I remember this one moment...sometime in May. It had rained the last night I think, and the next day evening I was on the roof to get a kite stuck in one of the trees that was approachable from the roof. All calculations and projections were made from the ground survey prior to the actual execution of the operation. I was walking very cautiously because once the tiles are wet, they become extremely slippery and there is also a danger of them just cracking up. Had learnt all this from previous experiences and disasters, when suddenly during the monsoons the otherwise secure corner of the house would start leaking and Dad would say, "Oh it must be the crows that keep fiddling with the tiles." And all I used to do was smile to myself.

Yeah, that evening as I neared the edge of the roof of one of the section, I suddenly looked up overhead. The sky had gone pitch dark and it seemed like a storm was approaching. And then I looked towards my school and I saw the most beautiful sight ever. A bright, sparkling rainbow spread across the sky. It was one of the most joyous and treasured moment of my childhood. Inexplicable yet almost divine. I just stood there over the ridge, one leg on each slope of the roof, watching the rainbow against a dark, threatening sky, the trees swaying wildly and the breeze in my hair. I didn't care if anyone saw me, didn't worry about the tiles cracking under my feet or me slipping off and falling. Wonder where all the fear had gone from within the 12 year old boy's heart. The view from the rooftop was quite a sight, because I could only see trees in the immediate surroundings and a few buildings a little distance away springing up one by one in the direction of the city. For a moment I forgot about why I had climbed up.
I didn't get the kite. There was a little fear of the approaching rain as well as a different joy within me as I hurriedly "ran" on the roof to get back to the ground and tell my sisters about the rainbow. They didn't believe me initially coz there were too many trees around our house to see the sky so clearly. And when I showed it to them from within the branches of the neem trees.....they were like "Wow.....how did you know?"

It rained heavily that evening as we sat watching the rain from our "jaali" door waiting for it it to stop and our games to begin.......