Childhood is funny phase of life, just allows you to search a hero . Hero can be anybody in the family as it is easy to search them in the family . He can be elder brother , Chachu,any bosom friend or any body else . Every child had a hero ,when growing up ! I had been living with my parents alone & now going to maternal grand Pa's place , so search of a hero was more easy for me I had hoard of maternal uncles , Mausi beside Nana & Nani . It was wholesome Nanihal ! Maternal uncles were reading in higher classes of school ,wearing only half pants as uniform of school, humming filmy songs of the day , imitable antics with their exploits were envious &
covetous , forced me to widen my eyes with admiration !
Our train entered Purnea railway station majestically ,just chugging with very low speed & halted with a abrupt lurch. Mother was looking for the person to receive us & navigate us to the destination . My fourth maternal uncle was there on the platform & mother commented ' he is smiling or scowling' as there was no perceptible difference in his demeanour . He is no more , actually mine no other maternal uncles are alive . But he was a maverick !
When we reached our destination , I can't forget those moments as it was a moment of unforgettable joy of my life .. Everybody seemed as angels to me who have directly descended from heaven . For me joy was oozing from every nook & cranny of the house & specially me was toast to everybody.Time passed leisurely & gradually I found myself as smallest member of the family who was making petty hangouts & exploits with my last maternal uncle who was slightly elder to me turning guide , pal & partner for childish mischief & pranks .
In 1955 Purnea had no electricity, so kerosene lamps of different shape & sizes were ruling the roost in the house & in the evening they were geared with filling of kerosene in their belly, cleaning glasses from soot ,putting wicks in proper shape . It was interesting regimen of job , overseered by my 3rd maternal uncle daily in the evening .
In the night we all herded for reading & completing lessons with a kerosene lamp kept in the middle on a mat. The younger ones made their faces facetiously & gossiping more in low voices. In the mean time a street dog barked ! My fourth Mamoo replied the barking of dog with some modulation in tone & in no time hoard of street dogs assembled & start barking in unison with different modulation with occasional prompting from my fourth Mamoo . It was hilarious spectacle & I got marveled by his prowess till my Nana shouted 'stop this nonsense ' from other room . Today I remember with warmth how he enticed street dogs to bark ! In daytime me & my pal tried every trick of sound modulation but dogs looked toward us with disdain !
My mother & Nani were terrific gossiper & communicator to themselves , always telling tale to each other either tit-bits or trivia of the house or of vicinity & I enjoyed it silently listening it .But many times leitmotif of gossip stopped on the exploits of my 4th Mamoo . Once he was coming from school & lot of crows flying in the sky with excitement & cawing at the same time . This very spectacle is very common to behold , but that day their chief source of torment & exciting them for cawing commotion was my same 4th Mamoo . They were fluttering round him & occasionally hitting him with their beaks .One teacher of the school was watching this phenomena ,searched him & found two crow's eggs hidden in his pant stolen from crow's nest . What a brilliant idea of exciting crows !
In those days Purnea was famous for water logging & maximum of its area was covered by green foliage & leafage, green fields, tree groves ,plantain groves , distant constructed buildings as if space was no problem anywhere . Whole surrounding looked somnolent ,leisurely & relaxed . Me & my fifth Mamoo were pals with a dog Tommy in a tow always making excursions to vast swath of land in front of our house with no rhyme or reason . But we wanted to look busy on some errand of no consequences .
One William Shaheb of middle age always found going in this direction or that direction on foot vestiges made in the green field under the canopy of his umbrella . He always looked very pensive , morose .lost in his own thoughts. I asked my pal ,my 5th Mamoo, why he looked on some errand ,morose & thoughtful .I came to know , he wanted to go to England selling his vast landed property but he is finding no customer . I didn't know ,I should have empathy or a chuckle for him !
Lord Cornwallis way of land settlement made umpteen Zamindars in absentia & William Shaheb was one of them not knowing what to do as he was chained to the anchorage of his landed property .
Nani was telling & I had seen with my own eyes how flocks of hens pecking with mother hens scooping eatables from kitchen drain . My 4th Mamoo standing on the kitchen window enticed flocks of hen near him or scared them peck ,peck with high or low pitch of sound to scurry them around. It was peck ,peck, just modulation of sound emitting from his mouth . He seemed Pied Piper of Hamlin for me.
He had many exploits in his school days on his sleeve , top notcher in the class, playing good Banjo & bringing good filmy tunes . He was a great mime also !
He was a hero in my eyes & he died as a bachelor . RIP !
Continued ...............
Our train entered Purnea railway station majestically ,just chugging with very low speed & halted with a abrupt lurch. Mother was looking for the person to receive us & navigate us to the destination . My fourth maternal uncle was there on the platform & mother commented ' he is smiling or scowling' as there was no perceptible difference in his demeanour . He is no more , actually mine no other maternal uncles are alive . But he was a maverick !
When we reached our destination , I can't forget those moments as it was a moment of unforgettable joy of my life .. Everybody seemed as angels to me who have directly descended from heaven . For me joy was oozing from every nook & cranny of the house & specially me was toast to everybody.Time passed leisurely & gradually I found myself as smallest member of the family who was making petty hangouts & exploits with my last maternal uncle who was slightly elder to me turning guide , pal & partner for childish mischief & pranks .
In 1955 Purnea had no electricity, so kerosene lamps of different shape & sizes were ruling the roost in the house & in the evening they were geared with filling of kerosene in their belly, cleaning glasses from soot ,putting wicks in proper shape . It was interesting regimen of job , overseered by my 3rd maternal uncle daily in the evening .
In the night we all herded for reading & completing lessons with a kerosene lamp kept in the middle on a mat. The younger ones made their faces facetiously & gossiping more in low voices. In the mean time a street dog barked ! My fourth Mamoo replied the barking of dog with some modulation in tone & in no time hoard of street dogs assembled & start barking in unison with different modulation with occasional prompting from my fourth Mamoo . It was hilarious spectacle & I got marveled by his prowess till my Nana shouted 'stop this nonsense ' from other room . Today I remember with warmth how he enticed street dogs to bark ! In daytime me & my pal tried every trick of sound modulation but dogs looked toward us with disdain !
My mother & Nani were terrific gossiper & communicator to themselves , always telling tale to each other either tit-bits or trivia of the house or of vicinity & I enjoyed it silently listening it .But many times leitmotif of gossip stopped on the exploits of my 4th Mamoo . Once he was coming from school & lot of crows flying in the sky with excitement & cawing at the same time . This very spectacle is very common to behold , but that day their chief source of torment & exciting them for cawing commotion was my same 4th Mamoo . They were fluttering round him & occasionally hitting him with their beaks .One teacher of the school was watching this phenomena ,searched him & found two crow's eggs hidden in his pant stolen from crow's nest . What a brilliant idea of exciting crows !
One William Shaheb of middle age always found going in this direction or that direction on foot vestiges made in the green field under the canopy of his umbrella . He always looked very pensive , morose .lost in his own thoughts. I asked my pal ,my 5th Mamoo, why he looked on some errand ,morose & thoughtful .I came to know , he wanted to go to England selling his vast landed property but he is finding no customer . I didn't know ,I should have empathy or a chuckle for him !
Lord Cornwallis way of land settlement made umpteen Zamindars in absentia & William Shaheb was one of them not knowing what to do as he was chained to the anchorage of his landed property .
Nani was telling & I had seen with my own eyes how flocks of hens pecking with mother hens scooping eatables from kitchen drain . My 4th Mamoo standing on the kitchen window enticed flocks of hen near him or scared them peck ,peck with high or low pitch of sound to scurry them around. It was peck ,peck, just modulation of sound emitting from his mouth . He seemed Pied Piper of Hamlin for me.
He had many exploits in his school days on his sleeve , top notcher in the class, playing good Banjo & bringing good filmy tunes . He was a great mime also !
He was a hero in my eyes & he died as a bachelor . RIP !
Continued ...............
You had a blissful childhood. I envy you for being a darling grandchild of your Nani. And also several mamas, who made your visit to their home memorable. I had no Nani. She died when my mother was just five. Nana was a court official, who had 6 daughters and 5 sons, who survived to adulthood. How many perished during child hood,I have no idea. It is told that Nana used to get good salary but most of it went into eating good food and occasional consumption of alcohol. My mother had a tough childhood. After marriage and birth of first child (it was me), she pinned all her hopes on me. It was her insistence that I must pursue engineering. In the process,she became a hard taskmaster and used every part of her body and all kitchen implements to give corporal punishment to me. I still have scars on my body and mind of her thrashing. I was a poor student, but her constant force to improve my studies, ultimately landed me in SVR. It was first time in SVR,that I started enjoying my education and did reasonably well, despite several hiccups like going to jail in pre-final year of study. Being from a poor background,I decided not to pursue higher education,though my mother wanted so. I was lucky in getting jobs and landed in a multinational, with in three months of result of engineering. There was no looking back, and I got best of jobs in later part of my life. Very unfortunately, my emotional relations with my mother suffered a great deal in her final years of life. Both of us were responsible for those unfortunate happenings. I believe that she remained confused in her final years of life, whether I was a worthy son or not?
ReplyDeleteThe tinge of envy or craving for some thing reeks always from your comment. Not fair ! I never wanted to be an engineer but my parent specially Papa was enamored by this profession & he succeeded in making me an engineer. Once ,in the the fag end of my engineering career I asked my Papa ' why you were besotted so much by engineering profession ? I wanted to join U.P.S.C. but you thought it was dicey decision , but I would have been professor in some college because you were knowing , I was bookish from my childhood !
ReplyDeleteAfter few minutes of silence he replied ,yes what you say is correct but you would have no confidence of purchasing & consuming 5 bags of cement . His reply answered my every doubts !
Sir, you are brutally frank which I like very much . Nonetheless regarding corporal punishment you described , I have to say twice I had to live my house ,prisoned for my demeanor but so what ?
When my mother was dying I remembered one thing , you had been callous towards me but you gave me healthy body & mind & made me rugged to face this irreverent world & perhaps this is positivity of life so why to rue !
We all have stories behind us.
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