A Trip Down the Memory Lane

Dr Ranbir Laishram
Sipping my evening tea,
I go down the memory lane,
Of several decades back,
Still vivid as yesterday.

That was a fine Sunday afternoon.
Walking few miles with my friend,
Reached our destination,
The cinema hall, a bit late.
The crowded ticket counter.
People, one over the other.
What a sight from a distance !
Back then, this was the fashion,
Being small boys we were,
Could not fight our way ahead.

With a little push and pull,
Our turn came finally.
With a hope to get the ticket,
I requested for two 25 paise tickets.
The counter man said all sold out.
Only 50 paise in my hand.
I asked for one 50 paise ticket,
With an idea to share the single seat.

With one ticket in my hand,
As fast as we could,
Hurried to the front door.
I requested the gatekeeper,
If we could sit together with one ticket.
The gatekeeper hesitant to accept,
Smiled and took pity on us.
He allowed us to enter.
The movie had already started.
I made my friend to sit on the seat.
I sat on the floor in front of everybody,
Right in front of the screen.
After a while, the gatekeeper saw me,
And he offered his chair to me.
We enjoyed the afternoon show,
Of The movie “Anarkali".
All thanks to the generous ticket collector.
That was the life we enjoyed six decades ago.
What a simple beautiful life we had !