It’s not fair. I didn’t get to sleep on Chhats but came back and got malaria 
Sleeping on Chhat has its attractions very well described by the authoress of this thread herself. Meree yaadon mein woh chandinee raateon hain jab hum chaadrein le ke chat par let jaate thay. Safed doodhiya chandinee mein thandee hawaon ke jhaunkey aur chaaron taraf aik khubsurat see khamoshee. Its quite similar to the situation portrayed in a song "dil dhoondta hai fursat ke woh raat din.......ya garmiyon kee raat jo purwaiyaan chalein, thandee safed chaadron mein jaagein der talak"
Such leisures to enjoy the nature are no more.
Nadia; though sleeping on Chhat in Islamabad too has attractions but you are surely missing out its charms which rural settings offer. Next time you come over go to a Village :-)
i honestly wasn’t expecting such interesting responses. Thank you everyone for participating.
Where to start… i don’t know why but i don’t remember being attacked by hordes of mosquitoes; we never used a machardaani outside. i don’t think my Dadi/Dada or Nana/Nani ever owned one. Maybe it was the month when the mosquitoes’ breeding season doesn’t start or something, got no idea, but i don’t remember being attacked by mosquitoes outside on the chhat. Of course there were machaaron (macharein?) in general, but not to the extent that we felt uncomfortable and had to sleep inside.
Jasmine and Raat ki Rani … those kinds of smells don’t exist anymore do they? i have never found that same strong smell.
Munni, yeah the girl-guy issue was never a problem for us because all my male cousins were younger than the female ones by at least five years…so whereas i was around 8, they were only 3. So it was just like you’re sleeping with your brothers. No one ever said anything. Had they been older than me, the situation might have been different.
Ira, i read your General Forum thread :k: It was very interesting Masha’Allah. Yeah i guess it depends on one’s family. If i go back, i will try to sleep more often on the chhat… whatever my cousins think.
Cheegum, lol i know what you mean.
:k: :k:
Capricorn, i would LOVE to experience the rural setting. There is nothing i would want more. My Ammi tells me (this was in then East Pakistan though) of sitting at sunset on the hills where they had a home, and just as the sun was setting, farmers would come home from their day’s work… they would take up their bansuris and someone would start playing a very sad note that would echo on the hills. Can you imagine lying on a charpoy, no barrier between you and the stars, and hearing this type of music echoing around you in the hills. sigh i think i could quite happily live my life just like that.
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*Originally posted by Nadia_H: *
Capricorn, i would LOVE to experience the rural setting. There is nothing i would want more. My Ammi tells me (this was in then East Pakistan though) of sitting at sunset on the hills where they had a home, and just as the sun was setting, farmers would come home from their day's work.... they would take up their bansuris and someone would start playing a very sad note that would echo on the hills. Can you imagine lying on a charpoy, no barrier between you and the stars, and hearing this type of music echoing around you in the hills. sigh i think i could quite happily live my life just like that.
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Wow, this wud be amazing. Though we take such things to be mesmerising as we happen to experience them as Visitors yet those who are living in this scenario quiet surely think its depressing for them. It is fun to be there but to live there on permanent basis is no fun, take my word. Urban greed culture has dishonoured Rural charms to a great degree. Once on a tour to Northern Areas, I was talking to a local as to how blessed they are for living such a peaceful life where there is no pollution whatsoever kind with pure water and air, he gazed at me and sighed:".......... sahab is khubsurtee ke peeche jo udaas zindagee hum guzaarte hain woh khullee aankh ko dekhne mein naheen aatee!"
But again, a flute playing in the crazy fingers of a shepherd while the sun is setting makes me live again.......live again for the true sake of love for life.
hey Nadia 
kewl topic… when i used to live in Taxila, Pakistan, my parents, bro and I would always sleep on the chhat during the summer… it was the best! I thought it was normal and then when i came to OZ i realised no one slept on their balconies.. kinda odd..
i can still recall the sky and its stars… it was amazing
sahab is khubsurtee ke peeche jo udaas zindagee hum guzaarte hain woh khullee aankh ko dekhne mein naheen aatee!
:)
sigh the memories…
Once during a trip to a farm house in southern Goa which was by the sea my cousins and i slept on the chhat. it was an amaaaaazing experience! the whispering trees, chirping crickets, bright starry skies, and best of all the soft steady murmur of the sea which lulled you to sleep like a lullaby. in the morning, we kids rushed to bathe in the sea… we had a marvellous time for 3 mights, and then the farmer happened to mention to us that snakes were known to prowl about at nights, and that put an end to the charm of sleeping on the chhat.
haan during the summer vacations, when the bijli used to go out, hamaare “society ke bacchay log” used to have a sleepover on the chat. we’d start out with ghost stories… pry out secrets from the sleep-talkers 
it was a good time…
sometimes i really think what am i doing working in a city...i want to go and live in our village ... the khula asmaan...charpai...stars...chandni raatein ... sab jug soyay hum jaagein taaron se karein baatein *sigh
Sadzzz, Sorry for the late reply. When did you live in Taxila? Masha'Allah you are privileged. For how long did you live there? i visited it once...really found it an interesting experience. Wish i could go back.
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Originally posted by irem: *
**sometimes i really think what am i doing working in a city...i want to go and live in our village ... the khula asmaan...charpai...stars...chandni raatein ... sab jug soyay hum jaagein taaron se karein baatein *sigh
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i feel the same way. You described exactly how i feel, Irem.... although i suspect you are talking about Pakistani villages, and i am referring to African villages :D heh. Khula asmaan...charpai.... taaron... nothing between me and the stars. sigh
i hate the downtown concrete jungles of Canadian cities.