My Childhood

I want to tell you the simple rustic childhood that I had in Trivandrum.My father used to work in the Reserve Bank of India there.Since my brothers are too elder to me,my elder brother came to BLR for his graduation and my second brother went off to REC TRICHY for his Engg.I was left alone.And since my father was a big officer in RBI,he was given a palatial house.Well,it was me and my mom and granny.Those days,TVM was one unknown small city or rather kind of a village.Just one bus,one cycle or a car on the road and human beings too were scarce then.You know,I did not have friends of my age and my only friend was my maid servant Lissy..I am sure she must be now in her 60's.She used to take me to her humble hut which was behind our bungalow.BUT behind our bungalow was a vast stretch of paddy fields with 100s of ducks floating in the fields during harvesting season and during the season when they used to start planting seeds,it used to be another look altogether.The women would sing folk songs and happily plant the little saplings without caring for the scorching sunlight.I used to sit and watch all that.You know,as a kid,i never felt bored.Then slowly the kids around my maid servants house became my best friends.They were a bit apprehensive to even come near me in the beginning for so many reasons a few of which were that i was a bit too FAIR as per their standards (they used to call me white cockroach and run away)and also they thought we were rich and so would not mix with them.You know,you must have seen the pathways between the paddy fields??well crabs used to make homes on the sides of those pathways.I used to take a coconut leaf, scrap out the leafy part,retain the centre part(the one with which broomsticks are made) and then slowly insert that into the crabs hole.The minute the crab used to catch on to the stick,i used to pull it out to see the crab hanging on the other end..Seeing its angrily moving claws,the till then brave maha,would throw the stick and scream her head out...What fun..water snakes were a common sight then.

I used to get into small ponds with my friend and dip one hankie into the water and then catch small fishes and tadpoles..you know,once my newly bought HAWAII slipper got stuck in the mud when i was catching the fish and the way I had cried because a thrashing was guaranteed if I had gone home with one foot with the slipper on and another foot bare..but with all my courage left,I put my hand into the clayey mud and pulled out my slipper!!SO many such "adventures"are there to narrate..

.Lissy my maid used to take me to her small hut for CHRISTMAS and serve me the goodies made for the festival..cakes,murukkus,and a curry made with tapioca(locally called as KAPPA which is supposed to be eaten with fish).Her neighbours used to come and stand and stare at a "rich"man's "fair" daughter eating from a poor man's humble house.But the taste of those goodies still linger on on my tongue even to this day...

I had a very very simple childhood and I am proud of it.Not once did my parents make me realise the fact that we were Brahmins and we were not supposed to eat in a servant's house.Infact,I was never made aware of the caste system by my parents.I was taught by my beloved father that all human beings are equal.I am teaching the same principles of life to my children.Hope they can assimilate these simple principles in their lives some day.

Till my next blog,Cheers and Tata..