Tomorrow is Day 23200! Some memories from the past....

Sunday 22^nd June 2025          Day 23199

Tomorrow Monday 23^rd June 2025, when the day dawns & if the breath still remains in me, it would be my 23200^th day on the planet in this lifetime.

That would mean that more than 70% or more of my life has been lived.

And today, I pause. Take a look at the rear-view mirror of my Life and recollect whatever I can.

Early days and childhood. 1961 – 1974   Wadala, Bombay

-          Life at # 4 Shankar Dham, Wadala, Mumbai, Maharashtra.
-          The large mango tree that grew adjacent to our ground floor house.
-          The Paarijaat tree (Pavazhamalli – a.k.a. night flowering jasmine) that showered its flowers every              night onto the ground and its fragrance wafting in through the windows.
-          Eager to get to school S.I.W.S every morning
-          Being wary of the Leprosy hospital on the way and taking the side of the road far away from it                   while going to school and on the way back. While I was uncomfortable whenever I saw a leper, I also wondered why that person had to endure this.
-          Char hospital was always something that I was in awe of, for some strange reason.
-          The sports days at school and specially the lemon-and-spoon race and the 100-meter sprint.
-          Buying Brittania bread at the corner Irani shop. And the rare ice cream in a plastic ball.
-          Eating bread slices by dipping them in warm milk and sugar.
-          Eating Ovaltine as a nutritional supplement.
-          Dad getting us potato wafers on his return from Killick Nixon office. And us identifying the biggest one and keeping that aside for the last.
-          Phantom, Flash Gordon and Mandrake comics from Indrajaal. And Chandamama too.
-          The occasional bhel puri that dad would bring from near VT station on his way back.
-          My poonal (Upanayanam) at home and the deer-skin tied to the poonal.
-          My mom’s histrionics and how it left a strong memory in my mind about money.
-          The music teacher coming home to teach my elder sister. And I too learnt for a couple of years.
-          Singing in Carnatic music competitions. And winning some silver cups as prizes too!
-          Visiting Shanmukhananda hall for Carnatic music programs.
-          Dad’s work with Swathi Thirunaal Kalakshetram and Yesudas and Chembai visits.
-          Tarzan movies at Aurora theatre.
-          Walking to Five Gardens and having sheng (moongfali roasted)
-          The stink of the dirty socks that my uncle left in the balcony after return from work.
-         The severe admonishing that my elder sister got one evening from dad and mom. And I was clueless on what was right and what was wrong.
-          The amazing smell of non veg biryani that was cooked just outside the window by the caterers for an event in the third-floor house.
-          A fire that broke out in that third floor house because of a stray Diwali rocket!
-          The open kuppa thotti in the corner of the compound.
-      Cricket, lagori, hide-and-seek games in the compound. The pambaram that always amazed me. Carrom, board games and cards in the corridor during the afternoons.
-          Washing the toilet and bathroom and making it spick and span.
-          The monthly oil baths and the besan used at the end.
-          The occasional PurgoLax tablets and the ensuing runs to the toilet.
-         The trips to Ambernath by train early in the morning on weekend, to buy rice from farmers. A scarce commodity those days.
-          The premonition that our Principal at SIWS had which led to the school being closed early that day. And there was a roof collapse later in the afternoon!
-          Enjoying studies and doing well at school.  
-          Wartimes. Sticking brown paper on windows. Sirens going on. Anti-aircraft flares. Lights out.
-          Welcoming a younger sister in 1970.
-          UNICEF truckloads of powdered milk and vitamin Biscuits through Killicks Nixon
-          Polishing and painting a wooden shelf and slotted angles racks from Killicks
-          Painting the steel grill in the balcony
-          Grinding roasted coffee beans in the green cast iron hand grinder mounted on the edge of a table.

 

Next week I shall focus on the period 1974-1984. A very interesting phase of my life.