As I sit in front of my computer, there’s that evergreen Mohammed Rafi number, ‘Tere ghar ke saamne’ that’s wafting out of the music system and I get sentimental, go back in time and yearn for those nostalgic years. I was brought up by my maternal grandparents as was the trend those days, in Kerala. Ours was a huge joint family consisting of around 22 members and there were resident guests as well as those who came in to call on my grandparents – some came even from our ancestral village.
Our house was a huge sprawling bungalow with plenty of rooms, right in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram city. The kitchen was always bustling with activity with my grandmother, aunts and maids preparing delicious dishes as appropriate to the time of the day. We, children went to school and played while our elders kept a benevolent eye on all of us. They used to watch us at our evening games of ‘seven tiles’, ‘dumb charades’, ‘hide and seek’ etc, etc when our friends from the immediate neighbourhood also joined us.
After the games, a quick wash and change and all of us were required to sit down for studies which covered around two hours before dinnertime and each and everyone of us had to give a completion report on our homework, if any, when we’d also be asked questions from the days’ portions, that have been taught.
There used to be a huge ‘Murphy’ radio, with a green magic eye which used to be surrounded with the entire family, alongwith the guests, to listen to favourite programmes like the ‘Binaca geetmala’, sound track of movies etc.
Dinner was served in three tiers –children, uncles and resident guests and the ladies – on the kitchen floor, laden with mats for the purpose and only the uncles, resident guests and my grandparents ate on the dining table. My grandfather, usually came in around 2130h from work and he insisted on interacting with each one of us before we were sent to our room, where a requisite number of mattresses would have been spread on the floor, to accommodate all of us.
Another highlight was the prayer time – both in the morning and in the evening, after sunset -when the entire family conglomerated in the puja room and the morning ‘arti’ was performed by my grandfather himself! It was my duty to pluck and collect flowers, every morning from the trees and plants of our garden, for the puja.
All together a fun filled time, where I learnt the essence of life and as I remember, a happy and carefree phase of my childhood before I left for the Sainik school.
Our house was a huge sprawling bungalow with plenty of rooms, right in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram city. The kitchen was always bustling with activity with my grandmother, aunts and maids preparing delicious dishes as appropriate to the time of the day. We, children went to school and played while our elders kept a benevolent eye on all of us. They used to watch us at our evening games of ‘seven tiles’, ‘dumb charades’, ‘hide and seek’ etc, etc when our friends from the immediate neighbourhood also joined us.
After the games, a quick wash and change and all of us were required to sit down for studies which covered around two hours before dinnertime and each and everyone of us had to give a completion report on our homework, if any, when we’d also be asked questions from the days’ portions, that have been taught.
There used to be a huge ‘Murphy’ radio, with a green magic eye which used to be surrounded with the entire family, alongwith the guests, to listen to favourite programmes like the ‘Binaca geetmala’, sound track of movies etc.
Dinner was served in three tiers –children, uncles and resident guests and the ladies – on the kitchen floor, laden with mats for the purpose and only the uncles, resident guests and my grandparents ate on the dining table. My grandfather, usually came in around 2130h from work and he insisted on interacting with each one of us before we were sent to our room, where a requisite number of mattresses would have been spread on the floor, to accommodate all of us.
Another highlight was the prayer time – both in the morning and in the evening, after sunset -when the entire family conglomerated in the puja room and the morning ‘arti’ was performed by my grandfather himself! It was my duty to pluck and collect flowers, every morning from the trees and plants of our garden, for the puja.
All together a fun filled time, where I learnt the essence of life and as I remember, a happy and carefree phase of my childhood before I left for the Sainik school.
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