I have vivid memories of my life from the age of three. As vivid it is so is it gloomy vividly. Yet the stories of my life were extraordinarily exciting. I do not remember what concepts were being taught at home but at nursery school I was bewildered at the variety of humans around me. Boys were already boys and girls were kind of a new world. I remember what was packed for lunch and what went on at home for every lunch box to be packed. Dad got one and my two other elder siblings got theirs. Each had their own boxes and I remember the shape of each one of them.
My books would go into an aluminum box. And then a man would come on cycle, three of kids would be loaded - one on the front bar, the others on the carrier behind. Off we would go about 6 kms from home. When the shoes went between the spokes we would remember our parental advice and silently continue our journey more carefully. I do not remember saying thanks or talking much with the guy who dropped us. In India we are not taught such things, beside, he would be in a rush as well. He would have the next set of children to bring or go for work.
I remember observing others more than talking myself. Probably I was learning new languages apart from Malayalam that I spoke at home or the Oriya that I learnt from my neighbors. However, I don't remember having difficulty in comprehending the teachers speaking in English nor my friends who would speak in Hindi. I do not know how I learnt all the languages but I seemed to be comfortable even in my nursery. Though, I would always wonder why I did not have much topics to discuss. I always felt the need to talk more but I never did. However, language never bothered, it was fun.
Then came a promotion. I was not a good at getting grades. My report cards always have red marks in them. I believe my promotion came with a few reds and advises to improve. I had new company in the new class. I noticed that some of them spoke my mother tongue. Some would smell in the morning and I probably came in clean uniform everyday. I was happy that Pinky was in class. I had also got a new pencil box which looked like a large chocolate bar. The very next thing that happened was the whole class was to be punished. When the cane started descending on my had I pulled it away and it fell on my pencil box. I am not sure if I cried but I was very upset. The teacher noticed it and came back with a new one for me the next day. I surely appreciated the teacher for her gesture and I surely learnt some goods lessons in life.
The next thing I know is that I had to change school. I felt in me that I would never ever see Pinky again. The new school was the best in town. Was much bigger and grander and I would now be travelling on bus to school. Again boys were boys here and girls no longer occurred as it was a boys only school. I don't think that bothered me much, there were enough things to worry about and life was just opening up before my eyes. There were bullies who got scared of my big brother when they learnt of his presence in school.
My sister was also there in a nearby girls only school. We would alight our school buses from the same bus stop. My sister had her school bus and me and my brother had another for ours. I remember getting commented on my dirty knees and neck. From that day onward I started paying attention on scrubbing while bathing. There were games played en-way to school, sometimes it was a game on country names and at times on people and songs. I was not much intelligent in such affairs but still enjoyed the moments.
Once on the bus a best friend of mine who was probably on a new path of discovery on personal hygiene asked me what I had applied on my hands as winter skin protection. My mention of oil didn't match up to his use of vaseline. He looked down upon me as an inferior being. I was happy with the olive oil rub I would get at home - even today I would not mind using it, but back then I saw a friendship drifting into separation. It felt bad but he was moving into a world of his own. At a later date at home he mentioned that the pillows we had are much harder than the once at his home. That was the last time he sat with me as a friend. I never heard from him again. I miss him as a good friend I had in the earlier years of my life. It never made sense to me that a guy could take such things serious enough to move on from a friendship. I never felt any other tension between us.
Now apart from school and home there was another regular activity in life. The five of us in our family had one scooter to travel. We did travel all together on one scooter quite often but then on Sundays we would walk to church. We had about 5 Km to walk, but that never seemed to be a problem. I enjoyed the walks. I enjoyed seeing the trees around. It was a new world opening up before my eyes. There were a variety of people to observe. There were business men all around. There were cycle and scooter repair shops, there were meat shops, there were small and medium grocery shops. Some that would sell only about 10 items and other that would have more to offer. Some sold just oil, kerosene and sugar. Some of them would offer services - hair cut being the most poplar.
I enjoyed pelting stray dogs which advanced towards us. Later, I noticed that just bending down was enough to scare them away. I guess I could defend myself in the 80's maybe in the late 80's.
My books would go into an aluminum box. And then a man would come on cycle, three of kids would be loaded - one on the front bar, the others on the carrier behind. Off we would go about 6 kms from home. When the shoes went between the spokes we would remember our parental advice and silently continue our journey more carefully. I do not remember saying thanks or talking much with the guy who dropped us. In India we are not taught such things, beside, he would be in a rush as well. He would have the next set of children to bring or go for work.
I remember observing others more than talking myself. Probably I was learning new languages apart from Malayalam that I spoke at home or the Oriya that I learnt from my neighbors. However, I don't remember having difficulty in comprehending the teachers speaking in English nor my friends who would speak in Hindi. I do not know how I learnt all the languages but I seemed to be comfortable even in my nursery. Though, I would always wonder why I did not have much topics to discuss. I always felt the need to talk more but I never did. However, language never bothered, it was fun.
Then came a promotion. I was not a good at getting grades. My report cards always have red marks in them. I believe my promotion came with a few reds and advises to improve. I had new company in the new class. I noticed that some of them spoke my mother tongue. Some would smell in the morning and I probably came in clean uniform everyday. I was happy that Pinky was in class. I had also got a new pencil box which looked like a large chocolate bar. The very next thing that happened was the whole class was to be punished. When the cane started descending on my had I pulled it away and it fell on my pencil box. I am not sure if I cried but I was very upset. The teacher noticed it and came back with a new one for me the next day. I surely appreciated the teacher for her gesture and I surely learnt some goods lessons in life.
The next thing I know is that I had to change school. I felt in me that I would never ever see Pinky again. The new school was the best in town. Was much bigger and grander and I would now be travelling on bus to school. Again boys were boys here and girls no longer occurred as it was a boys only school. I don't think that bothered me much, there were enough things to worry about and life was just opening up before my eyes. There were bullies who got scared of my big brother when they learnt of his presence in school.
My sister was also there in a nearby girls only school. We would alight our school buses from the same bus stop. My sister had her school bus and me and my brother had another for ours. I remember getting commented on my dirty knees and neck. From that day onward I started paying attention on scrubbing while bathing. There were games played en-way to school, sometimes it was a game on country names and at times on people and songs. I was not much intelligent in such affairs but still enjoyed the moments.
Once on the bus a best friend of mine who was probably on a new path of discovery on personal hygiene asked me what I had applied on my hands as winter skin protection. My mention of oil didn't match up to his use of vaseline. He looked down upon me as an inferior being. I was happy with the olive oil rub I would get at home - even today I would not mind using it, but back then I saw a friendship drifting into separation. It felt bad but he was moving into a world of his own. At a later date at home he mentioned that the pillows we had are much harder than the once at his home. That was the last time he sat with me as a friend. I never heard from him again. I miss him as a good friend I had in the earlier years of my life. It never made sense to me that a guy could take such things serious enough to move on from a friendship. I never felt any other tension between us.
Now apart from school and home there was another regular activity in life. The five of us in our family had one scooter to travel. We did travel all together on one scooter quite often but then on Sundays we would walk to church. We had about 5 Km to walk, but that never seemed to be a problem. I enjoyed the walks. I enjoyed seeing the trees around. It was a new world opening up before my eyes. There were a variety of people to observe. There were business men all around. There were cycle and scooter repair shops, there were meat shops, there were small and medium grocery shops. Some that would sell only about 10 items and other that would have more to offer. Some sold just oil, kerosene and sugar. Some of them would offer services - hair cut being the most poplar.
I enjoyed pelting stray dogs which advanced towards us. Later, I noticed that just bending down was enough to scare them away. I guess I could defend myself in the 80's maybe in the late 80's.
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