The sun had tilted slightly to the west. The harsh brightness of the rays had faded, spreading a soft, golden light all around. Anindya was sitting in the easy chair on the porch, sipping from a cup of steaming tea. At that moment, the atmosphere of their neighborhood changed completely. A strange familiar clamor began to rise from all around. The sounds of small children playing and flying kites drifted in from the roof of the neighboring house. An ice cream vendor's cart was jingling as it passed around the corner, and hearing that sound, the little girl from the neighborhood began to insist on getting some. Meanwhile, the aroma of puffed rice mixed with onions and the sharp scent of pure mustard oil wafted in from the kitchen.
Suddenly, Anindya's phone screen lit up. A message from his best friend from school, Nilav, came in: "Hey, are you coming to the old field once? It’s been a long time since we sat there." Anindya didn’t delay. He finished his cup of tea, quickly slipped on a simple T-shirt, and stepped out.
When he reached the old banyan tree field after crossing the neighborhood, the sun was setting. A gathering of vermilion red and orange occupied a corner of the sky. As he sat down, stretching his legs on the grass, Nilav said, "Do you remember how we used to spend these afternoons just kicking around a football? There were no worries, just the rush to get home before evening."
Anindya looked up at the sky and smiled. Indeed, in this rat race of growing up, people lose so much! But this twilight seemed like a magician. It came regularly to remind people to pause for a moment, to take a breath, that life is truly beautiful. As the birds returned home in flocks and the sounds of the call to prayer floated in from afar, the two friends still sat quietly, soaking in the dusk light. In the hectic life of the twenty-first century, this one afternoon seemed to bring them back to the childhood they had lost.