Out of curiosity, is this something that individuals born and raised in Pakistan, would do ? i rather strongly doubt it. This sounds like one of those things that only a confused abcd/cbcd would tend to find a thrill in. You go out and sleep on your ‘chhat’/roof/verandah when it’s hot outside. When i was in Isl., i slept in my cousin’s room…she had an air conditioner on most of the time at night. Khair eik raat the electricity went off (much to my happiness) and i begged her if we could go outside and sleep on the chhat. i’m sure that must have been the last straw to convince her that ‘my cousin has lost her marbles’ but :o what the heck…i looooooooooooove to sleep outside on the chhat. We took one bedsheet with us, and that was ALL. It was awesome. They have a relatively medium-sized roof, we just laid out the sheet in one corner at a strategic angle where we hoped none of the neighbours could see us, and lay down. It was just awesome. You could hear the crickets and the other night insects around us, they have a huge tree in their front yard the branches of which lean up towards the chhat. The sound of the breeze rustling the branches, the crickets and other insects chirping on the branches, and of course the stars above - stars that you don’t see in Canadian skies at night-time (well, not frequently anyways, in the polluted city where i live).
To someone who is raised in Pakistan, like my cousin - it must have seemed extremely weird. But it’s the little things like those that, when combined, make trips like those so much more memorable. man! i’d give anything to go back to that one night we slept on the chhat…it was so much fun. It’s the “little” things like that, stuff that my cousin takes for granted, that make a trip to Pakistan stand out so much more. sigh Has anyone else done that? How weird does it seem? :~/
I have slept on the chhat…I remember as a kid when electricity outages would be announced (around 9 or ten), our whole family would go to the chhat…We would spread out a big ‘durree’ and take our pillows and everything…I was the youngest, and my eldest baji and me would make out shapes in the clouds, sometimes even ammi used to join in…
The best part was that though the house would be stifling hot inside, the cool air of the night was so refreshing, and due to the wind no mosquitoes…Everything from family matters to current situations would be discussed, and if the moon happened to be full, the night would take on a whole different meaning…It was so much fun that I actually looked forward to the time when the electricity went out, and when it did, I was the first one on the roof with the ‘durree’, and by the time everyone came up, I had everything prepared for them…
It was a good time for me…Sleeping on the chhat has many memories of many good things for me…After reading this thread, my whole childhood came rushing to me…
yup…as kidz, when bijli used to go out, we used to sleep on chaTT…we used to live in joint family, so all my cousinz, we all used to get together n have some mad fun playing with each other
the ladies used to be talking over the chaTs to other ladies on their chaTs
i just remembered once…at my Dada and Dadi’s home…raat ka waqt tha, full moon, July or August… someone took up a whole basket of mangoes upto the chhat, and all us little kids (i was 6 or 7), were eating mangoes with mango juice dripping down our elbows on the chatt, racing each other from one corner of the chatt to the other Someone dragged up a ‘phunka’ too, to the top, and after we had finished the mangoes, we lay down and started counting stars…and just talking until 3 or 4 in the morning.
Didn't you guys use a "Machardaani"? I remember the macchardaani and this huge fan we had going full blast. Me and my siblings would fight over the angle of the fan so we could get max exposure. It would get quite cool in the night.
This reminds me of the time spent vacationing in my pind back when I was a kid. Daadi jaan use to put fresh white khais on munji and install machardaani. It was the same ritual every evening.
You could smell the aroma of Jasmine in the air at night. Chaandni would bounce off trees and vegetation in the garden casting ghostly shadows in the waira.
Me and my sister chased after jugnoos in the the vast waira, while village folk sat in a circle passing hukah to each other.
I hope to go back someday and recreate those moments.
Memories.... I have done so many many times in my Nanhiyal and Dadhiyal pinds.... electricity or no electricity.. we did not have ACs at that time.. we used to sleep in the open Sehan or chhat... I remember few times we had to rush in due to sudden showers in the middle of the night and one time even an earth-quake hit...
The best outdoor exp was over-night stay on the farming lands (Muraba) .... no buildings around just trees and plantations, open sky full of stars... lussi, mangoes, sardaiiii.... Good old days... InshaAllah one day I will get to this again with kids...
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You could smell the aroma of Jasmine in the air at night. Chaandni would bounce off trees and vegetation in the garden casting ghostly shadows in the waira.
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There was another flower called "Raat ki Raani" which would fill the air with its sweet fragrance. One thin I remember distinctly is Fajar ki azan and then 20 minutes later the "kuk" of the local mill.
The first time I visited Pakistan my cousins one night insisted that we sleep on the chhat. So 4 of us slept that night on the chhat. Apparently my cousins did it sometimes, and we were all in our teens. However the next day my aunty wasnt too pleased at what we did (probably thinking it isnt appropriate for guys and girls to be up there), so we didnt get to do it again at their house. Was fun though.
I miss pakistan terribly now!!!
When we used to visit, not all our relatives had ACs in the house so during summer time, we would sleep on the chutt on charpais. So, NadiaH, it might depend on your family, me thinks? Some of our relatives do it, some dont.
Now though, the closest i get to recreating the stargazing experience is lie down in my nephew's room and stare at the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling.
Now though, the closest i get to recreating the stargazing experience is lie down in my nephew's room and stare at the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling.
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Hahahaha, I have those too in my room :o
I love sleeping on the chhatt. We always do so when we're in my dadajaan's house in Lahore. It's just too hot to sleep in the house so we just pull out the chaarpaayee's and sleep in the open with them huuuuge fans running. When the first flies start to bug u in the morning u know it's time to get up.
Nothing beats sleeping under the open sky full of stars. As long as there’s no mosquitos of course, it’s a great experience. Every time we go to pak, we go to our pind where in the summer, everyone sleeps in the open. Just lay back and focus on the stars and the sky becomes totally mesmerizing, as if ure traveling in space. Its an awesome experience.
As for the chatt, we tried being clever and slept on the roof in the city once, only to be attacked by left right and center by mosquitos. We were kept awake all night, needless to say we didn’t try again in a hurry. Some of my cousins though, are forbidden from sleeping on the roof cuz they’re prone to sleep walking . :-D Never know what they might sleep walk right over.
I have whenever the elecs gone out. Amazing..i loveeeeeeeeeeeeeee stars and had i had the brains i'd be an astronomer. So half the night on the chat is spent staring at the milky way and counting the number of shooting stars i see whizz past. Magical. :)
