Memories from my childhood

Being born to parents who had a "mixed" marriage, has its own advantages (the disadvantages have been discussed enough!).The habits and experiences we got to see in the two places were so diametrically different, yet so enjoyable.

Both sets of grandparents lived really close to us, when we were growing up. My maternal grand parents lived in Madurai which is 60-65kms from my home town and my paternal grandparents lived in a small town-village called Nilakottai which is 30 kms from my home town.So, we grew up seeing both the sets very often.
Holidays were even more fun-we got to go to both these places. Here are some memories from those days..



My Nilakottai holidays(paternal grandparents place)
My dad has 3 younger brothers and 1 younger sister.My aunt ,who is the youngest of the clan, is only 10 years older than me. Sis and I practically grew up with her. We were really close to her - we still are! She is more of an elder sister than an aunt.She went to school/ college from my parents home and we would tag along when she went back to Nialkottai for holidays.
When we were growing up,none of my uncles were married yet ,except for the eldest uncle and so there were no other "cousins" to compete for attention.Thatha would pamper us with everything that was prohibited by my parents-wonderful parotta/salna from cheap roadside shops(which my dad would NEVER let us near if he had known), various chocolates, watching as much TV as we wanted, a special village treat called "pall-bun" that is like this giant gulab jamun !sigh!Patti would make all our favorite dishes- crispy dosai every day for my sis,manga sambar,chicken biryani and my favorite fish curry.
My eldest uncle owned a convenience store and he would bring back treats like five star/ gems / "bovanto"(local soda) and other trinkets like pencil boxes and plastic pens for us. My younger uncle would take us to countless movies with his "ultra-cool" gang of college friends. My youngest uncle was( and is still) in the army and he would buy these exquisite Rajasthani dresses/slippers and what not ! After all, we were the only kids around for a long time( until I was about 13).
In the evenings, patti or my aunt would comb our hair into neat plaits and buy special jasmine flowers for us. We would sit outside in the veranda- me,my sis, my aunt, my eldest uncle's wife and patti. All sipping coffee and all of them fussing over the two of us.
Nights would be spent on the mottai madi(terrace), with patti and my aunt telling us stories and singing songs.
Everyone in the small town-village would greet us when we go to the temple or to the baazar, because we were the "CI's" (my thatha was a Circle Inspector of Police) grand daughters or because we were the doctors' daughters.
We would never want the holidays to end- who would ?
Now- both patti and thatha are no more.My aunt lives in Madras. All three of my uncles have kids and live in the same town- albeit in separate houses.
Every time I go back to that place, I can visualize my patti sitting in the veranda in her easy chair, waiting for us to arrive or my thatha pacing about the front porch impatient for our arrival. When we went back there for the first time, after my patti died (thatha passed away a long time ago..), my mom couldn't contain her tears when she entered the house. She said the same thing- that she could visualize the two of them there in the veranda waiting for us...

My Madurai days (maternal grandparents)
My mother's parents lived in a sleepy suburb of Madurai called Thirunagar.They had lived in that place since my mom's childhood.
My Madurai thatha was a stern man. He did not believe in pampering kids. His idea of holidays was making us redo the annual exam question papers, so we wouldn’t forget the previous years portions! He was a very religious man-going to the Pillayar kovil every evening. He would make us tag along- the only highlight being that we got to play in the park, en route to the temple. He would meet his scholarly friends and chant mantras and Vedas with them. He would proudly show off our newly acquired math skills (" (a+b)^2 formula solli kami di thatha ku").A sharp mathematician who grew up during the British Raj, it did not even occur to him to relax or let us relax.
My patti was totally another story- she would make all kinds of savories for us- sevai and mor kozhambu/ aracha sambar/ parupusili etc. She was severely asthmatic – so cooking for long hours meant severe wheezing. She never complained. I haven’t seen her complain even once.
We would spend lazy afternoons on her bed and she would tell stories from her childhood. Her “doctor” appa, their huge house , her mom who died when my patti was only 9, her “chitthima”(step-mom), who never treated patti and her siblings well, her very affectionate grandparents etc.
She would take us to the Meenakshi amman kovil kadaitheru (bazaar) and Thiruparam kundram kadaitheru and buy “chepu chevurus” (wooden kitchen/utensil play sets) and other trinkets like glad bangles etc.
My mom’s sister was not married for a long time and she was and is an active social worker. She was very active in a Women's advocacy group called “Pennurimai iyakam” (Women’s rights org?) and would do exciting things like dharna in front of the collectors office etc. Her friends would come home and I would be in awe of all these powerful women with “jolna” bags talking about feminism and things like that. Sis and I have accompanied her to all sorts of neighborhoods, where she would go to do her social work.

The house itself was such a cool and pleasant one- long veranda where we would play for hours together. It was right next to a school, which meant free access to the playground. We would walk to the “Thanga raju kadai” ( convenience store that was owned by Mr. Thangaraju) and buy Frooti and 5-star.We had a small notebook where Thangaraju mama would write down the amount owed and thatha would settle it at the end of the month. Everything was based on trust!

Now thatha is no more and patti is bed ridden (almost) in my dad’s hospital.

I know this has been a lot of random rambling...I was thinking about all the childhood memories and it pains me that I can never get that back- ever!