My friends and i used to hang out together almost every waking hour of each day and it was a great experience of our lives.
Together,we made discoveries ,like learning to identify the various kind of fish that lived in rivers and the ugly difference between a toad and a frog,we could tell a mynah from the woodpecker,were able to judge when it was the right time to catch a grasshopper while it feasted on greens..etc,etc.
We were also able to 'handle' mood swings of our parents, we all knew when to ask for an extra coin ,we knew when it was considered ok to put on our kiddish act and be able to get away with insolance!
We were experts at timing too! We knew when to sneak up behind the half blind big towkay and steal his mouth watering 'asam kohs' from those huge jars he kept at the shelves!
We knew when to remain as innocent spectators to our elders' bickerings and quarrels,those fist fights between rival teen groups who just wanted to show their developing muscles to those innocent teen girls with thier often protruding teeth(curtesy of unhygenic dental habits),knee length skirts and oversized blouses who in the pretext of some chores,unfailingly made up a silent group of spectators to such entertainments!
I miss my friends even to this day....
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
The tale of the guava tree......
when i start on my memory lane,the first honour of precedence should be given to my forgone possession,that is the guava tree which had been planted by my mom infront of our home back in the early sixties.............
the guava tree and i grow up together,though by virtue of nature,it out grew me within a year,and i was still under 3 feet,entering my first year of school.
the guava tree was part of my entire childhood ......bcoz i used to spend almost the entire afternoon and evenings either on it or under it.....and it was that great guava tree which taught me many moral values,infact,my mom suffered many headaches in educating me in that aspect and shamefully failed many times.....but,being a tree,one might wonder,what sort of moral education i got from it...yes,indeed i learned many moral values...such as being selfless,kind,honest,forgiving,trusting,appreciating...etc...etc....
the guava tree induced me to learn tree climbing....and after many a fall,i finally learned to climb it.....and i tell u all out there, if u think u want to feel like a hero,u should go up a guava tree....climbing a tree,any tree for that matter,can free u from all ur inhibitions...it can make one stronger physically while emotionally,we tend to be powerful and in control ......thats why,i think,monkeys get more respect from men than their other counterparts....even today afternoon,i alomst collided on the divider,avoiding a troupe of monkeys,trying to cross the road,wihtout a care in the world either regarding traffic rules or personal safety! more abt the guava tree tomorrow...its time to dream abt it...goodnite...
the guava tree and i grow up together,though by virtue of nature,it out grew me within a year,and i was still under 3 feet,entering my first year of school.
the guava tree was part of my entire childhood ......bcoz i used to spend almost the entire afternoon and evenings either on it or under it.....and it was that great guava tree which taught me many moral values,infact,my mom suffered many headaches in educating me in that aspect and shamefully failed many times.....but,being a tree,one might wonder,what sort of moral education i got from it...yes,indeed i learned many moral values...such as being selfless,kind,honest,forgiving,trusting,appreciating...etc...etc....
the guava tree induced me to learn tree climbing....and after many a fall,i finally learned to climb it.....and i tell u all out there, if u think u want to feel like a hero,u should go up a guava tree....climbing a tree,any tree for that matter,can free u from all ur inhibitions...it can make one stronger physically while emotionally,we tend to be powerful and in control ......thats why,i think,monkeys get more respect from men than their other counterparts....even today afternoon,i alomst collided on the divider,avoiding a troupe of monkeys,trying to cross the road,wihtout a care in the world either regarding traffic rules or personal safety! more abt the guava tree tomorrow...its time to dream abt it...goodnite...
history of 'ais kapai'
the history of ais kapai is nothing as intriguing as aishwarya rai's elevated cleft but its indeed as cool as the himalayan winter.....
the first ais kapai entry to the estate came about around the early sixties since thats when i began my first steady steps along the rough road from my dwelling to that towkay's shop,clutching a stained 5 sen coin in one hand ,and sucking my fingers of the other hand...
i was 6 when i tasted my first luxurious ais kapai while my cousins looked on enviously,with their drooling tongues...every suck i took from that ais kapai drew more and more drooling from them,and it made me even suck harder at the ais kapai before my mom came out and ordered me to give my cousins a taste of it as well as it was the honest thing to do....but my mom did not come out of the kitchen so i finished my first ais kapai on my own and i guess that was the first sin i committed ,being greedy,tempting others emotionally,incuring jealousy and wrath of my ever present cousins.....anyway the first experince of the ais kapai still remains fresh in my mind,only bcoz i enjoyed it by my self......
note: ais kapai = its scrapped ice shaped into a ball and had thick brown sugar syrup and red
syrup poured over it and dished out on a piece of old newspaper piece.
the first ais kapai entry to the estate came about around the early sixties since thats when i began my first steady steps along the rough road from my dwelling to that towkay's shop,clutching a stained 5 sen coin in one hand ,and sucking my fingers of the other hand...
i was 6 when i tasted my first luxurious ais kapai while my cousins looked on enviously,with their drooling tongues...every suck i took from that ais kapai drew more and more drooling from them,and it made me even suck harder at the ais kapai before my mom came out and ordered me to give my cousins a taste of it as well as it was the honest thing to do....but my mom did not come out of the kitchen so i finished my first ais kapai on my own and i guess that was the first sin i committed ,being greedy,tempting others emotionally,incuring jealousy and wrath of my ever present cousins.....anyway the first experince of the ais kapai still remains fresh in my mind,only bcoz i enjoyed it by my self......
note: ais kapai = its scrapped ice shaped into a ball and had thick brown sugar syrup and red
syrup poured over it and dished out on a piece of old newspaper piece.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
as i was still crawling.....
i am still thinking how,where and what to write as an intro........i think i shall start with my wonderful childhood years spent in an rubber estate in the early 60s.......children of today can offer to pay a million but still could never savour the childhood of yester years i guess...infact some of them wont even be able to understand what childhood is now...things have definately changed for the worse since i last bought my 'ice kapai' from the towkay's sundry shop in 1960s....nowadyas,kids only know WALL'S.......NESTLEY.......etc..etc...the 'ice kapai' history is indeed history now...i think...
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