The old times..!

Times were of old and the boy lived in his big family. Their difficulty to meet both ends were common among all their neighbours too. The place did not have electricity and electricity was considered to be a luxury of the rich living in city towns or those who lived on either side of the important roads of the village angadii roads.

Those who lived in the inner lanes and bye lanes were used to the non electricity life. Rain and sun shine was plenty. The boy's house was a cutcha house with walls made of mud bricks and a tiled roof. The roof frame was entire built with bamboo stems and the whole structure gave a lot of fresh air. The little house stood on the side boundary of a largbe cashew orchard and it was the duty of the house hold to lok after the orchard. It gave them plenty of unripe cashew which was used to grind chutneys for morning break fast recipes like iddly, dosa or plain ice pudding called kanji.

The land did not belong to the boy's family house hold but to a rich land owner who came once in an year to collect an amount as due, for the usufructs of his land. He was a generous man as he did not insist on a huge amount and this made the life of the boy's family a bit easier compared to the tough land lords who meted out high charges to their lands entrusted to others.

The boys along with his brother roamed around the cashew trees, played there, at times made swings on the branches of the trees and enjoyed themselves. At times their sisters also joined them in these activities and it made the time all the more enjoyable. The father and mother looked after the house hold, father with his meagre incomes from a technical job he was doing in a leather business house and the mother doing all the house hold chores. She was a simple soul whose life revolved round her husand and her children. There was no other division of labour except all the chhildren were free to assist the mother all the time depending on their availability at home.

Mostly there were available as the only out side activity was to go to school which was from ten to four on six days a week. The school was nearby within a two kilometres of the house and all of them walked to school bare foot along with all other children who were also of the same predicament. The children (two girls, if one remembered correctly) from a rich Ayurvdea household came in a black ambasssador car and one child from another rich merchant's house hold came in a colourful single bullock cart in blue colour and the bullock having a bell at its neck. The bell jingled from time to time the cart ran and children made way for it automatically. The car also rarely made a horn, as the children on the road knew almost by heart when the black ambassador will pass.

The children had the aroma and smell of rose flowers which emanated in the gardens of the Christian Convent sister's school. The boys liked the school building as it had, apart from the smell of roses, a first floor with a wooden stair case which once in a while the boys got to climb. Small children were not allowed on the upstairs as the classes of the little ones were always below on the ground floor. The higher classes girls went upstairs to their classes. The boys' elder sisters studied in the first floor and that is how the tiny brothers could enjoy a climb to the first floor and see the little flower garden from upstairs. The boys were surprised to see that the garden had, apart from the roses, chrysanthamums, sun flowers, the yellow scented golden yellow chetti flowers and the purple ten o' clock flowers which opened up at ten o' clock every day.

All these made the school a little heaven from ten to five and the holiday on Sundays they could enjoy the breeze and quiet of the cashew orchard. The schooling of the boys and girls parted ways when the boys passed out of class three as boys above class three were not allowed in a girls school. The school was a girls school and the boys parents were to find other school for the boys. They got a far away school for an year for class four and another Government school after class four. The far away school was good in fresh air and so so in studies which suited both the boys and once they pushed that, were urceremoniously put to the Governent school whhich was also far away in the exactly opposite direction. Putting them to school was simple in those days as the only thing needed was to take them to the new school, give their head count and get their names written in the register for the particular class to which they are to be enrolled. The age etc. was what ever is told to the teachers by the parents or those sent by the parents who accompanied the children. The rest was according to the common sense of the registering teachers. The teachers carried a lot of weight and respect in those days and they also in return gave a lot of honour to the parents or the elders of the children.

Once studies upto Class ten was over, the elder boy went to study a trade in photo graphy and the younger one went to pre college. Both went to the local town, one to a photography studio and the other to the college. The one who went to college had to give a monthly fee to the college where as the one who went to the studio got little sums at times for doing extra work on holidays. The week day works were considered to be apprenticeship and hence the studio owner excused himself. This was fashion in the days of old.

Whatever holiday wages the elder got he brought home and it made their holidays a little posh..in their extreme poverty. Another thing he brought at times were the little batteries which were used up for flash photography. Their parents and all the children w ere surprised to see the small cells as the only cells they used to see were the big torch light cells used in the jeep torch when the elders had to carry at night for being safe from tropical snakes which were abundant and they crossed the roads and rivulets many times at night and one had to be careful as some were extremely poisnous.

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