MONDAY BLUEs (17)

SWEET MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD

Childhood is the most precious and cherished moment of a human life. Isn’t it a great irony that when we are children, we want to be adults and vice-versa?

I have been an introvert for the most part of my life. As a child, I was so shy that my mom told me that people didn’t believe I existed. However, my mom told me of an incident that made everyone laugh. An old acquaintance of our family, Mrs. Padma, used to collect subscription for the renovation of the temples.

One day, she visited our house with a receipt book. My mom gave 50 ₹ as her contribution. This was way back in 1985. I was watching the exchange of receipt with money. I couldn’t contain my curiosity and asked mom, ” Why are you paying her so much money for a piece of paper? Return it and take your money back.” I was 4 at that time.

In another freak accident, I almost lost my tongue. We had just bought a new refrigerator in the early 90s. I often used to open and close the refrigerator door to enjoy the chill air. Once, I opened the freezer door and tried to lick the ice when my tongue got stuck to the freezer. Fortunately, mom saw my mischief and came to my rescue. She pulled me with a gentle force and out came my tongue, intact, but bleeding.

My brother, who’s three years junior, also was not far behind. The hinges of the refrigerator door had already become loose due to my playing. He wanted to drink cold water and just as he opened the door, it came off in his hand. Fearing my mother’s fury, he went to our neighbors and hid there until mom came to fetch him. She was so cool that she merely laughed at his action and got the serviceman to fix the door. Both of us avoided going near the fridge for as long as possible.

I also had a unique way of showing my anger. I would compose an essay on the offending person in 4 languages, English, Hindi, Marathi, and Tamil. We had a cook in our house. I don’t know what made her hate us ( My brother and I). She would often tell tale on us and get us into trouble with Mom. I used to call her Mrs. Fox. She actually looked like a fox wearing human clothes. One day, she irritated me so much that I wrote essays on her in all the four languages, calling her a stupid witch and names that my mom found very funny. She burst out laughing when she read those essays. Fortunately, mom caught her stealing and sacked her immediately. I had also written something like:

She’s an ugly witch.

She can be a mean bitch.

Her mouth, I want to stitch.

For being a dirty snitch

And throw her in a ditch.

But I decided not to let my secret weapons ( nasty essays) fall into the wrong hands. So, I would either make a paper plane out of it or throw it in a dustbin after tearing the paper. Years later, I stopped this practice to avoid wasting precious paper.

That’s it for now, friends.

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