Year 1975 To 77

Year 1975-1977.

My first school –

Delhi Public School (DPS) – Mathura Road wala.(one)

Tenure – 3 years – Nursery, Class I & Class II.

Some incidents in DPS –

Help Mate Laxmi or Vaijayanti used to drop us to school

It was walking distance from our house

D- II 139, Kaka Nagar, New Delhi – 3 (whew! I still remember it)

There was one madam Ghosh Madam – a Bengali , our class teacher

She often used to tell Laxmi to complain to my Mother that I am pretty inattentive

Have no concentration and that I have forgotten even plus & minus !

We had begun multiplication then…so a child of 6-7 years is bound to forget plus , minus

How many things is a child – an average one like me ie. – supposed to remember ?

Is there any measuring scale ….like you have kg, litre, Kilometers…etc. for measuring.

But this no Teacher understands !

And I remember counseling Laxmi all my way back to home

“Laxmi please Mummy ko mat batana” (Laxmi please do not tell Mummy)

and she used to nod ever so slightly – not in total agreement

and the first thing she used to do on reaching home is…Tell Mummy !

I used to stop talking to her – Kutti – Abba thing used to go on

Kutti – abba – a way Indian children convey to fellow humans whether he/she is in talking terms with him /her – Kutti- not talking, Abba – talking.

I remember we had a Photograph of Swami Vivekanand stuck to our wall

Someone had given to my Mom on her wedding

It used to be right above me – I used to sleep in the middle – between my brother & sister.

My Mother had once told me that this man had traveled the entire India bare foot !

Bare feet ? – I used to wonder how he managed it!!

Cause sometimes when I used to go to the sun-rays smitten balcony without my slippers.. my feet used to burn and I used to run back hastily inside – in the shade

Often I used to come near His photo and ask Him whether he ever felt the scorching sun?

Since he had been around India without wearing slippers !!

Okay now back to school tales –

Don’t remember much actually..

I used to loose my water bottle cap always ..often ie.

Tiffin time used to be great – I remember my Mother used to be very innovative about making tiffins – she had bought an oven and she used to freak out trying out recipies.

Mom used to buy Femina and before giving it away to the Kabadi wala (waste collecter)

She used to cut the cooking recipes page – in fact she had made a book out of those torn pages – she made cakes of different flavors, dough-nuts, naan-khataai (a kind of biscuit)

Or else cutlets, fried rice , sandwiches etc.

My favorite always used to be the baked products though.

In fact she always had a surprise meal waiting for us in the evening

I often used to wonder what surprise meal we will get in the evening today…

It could be – Besan laddoos, puli-pithe, samosas with imli (tamarind ) chutney, pav-bhaji, channa , fish fingers, rasagulla, gulab jamun, dhosa etc….as I said she used to freak out trying new recipies.

Moreover in the Army, ladies from various regions meet and exchange their respective expertise – so whatever cooking she picked up , it used to be exactly as it should be !

This is basically the reason why I cannot eat outside – rather do no enjoy for long eating outside as my mother cooks a bit too too too good.

School used to take us out for Picnic

Honest confession – I hate picnics!

I never liked them – never – neither with school friends,

Nor with parents – it was a done thing in the Army….well just never.

I used to pretend that I am enjoying though..

I am the one who sings , dances, jokes and freaks out the most during Picnics…

But inside I used to hate it like nobody’s business !..I used to look forward for this Picnic to end – reach home – refresh and go to sleep on my cozy bed !

I have very relaxing tendencies actually – given half a chance – I would opt for relaxation – home relaxation ie – I cannot relax elsewhere to be very frank ! as I don’t like someone staring at me with a frowny forehead and snigger in the eyes – wondering why am I asleep or lying down at such an unearthly hour ! – that’s my wish Okay?

Am I doing any harm to anyone by lying down ? – No! – then why should one bother?

Its contagious actually ! people are usually afraid that it might spread among their kith & kin and no work will ever be done in this world !

Anyways – good for parents who are very strict and methodical and punctual blah-2!

Its for such parents that serious people are born who do something worthwhile in this world – scientists, engineers, doctors……good – good – keep it up!

Its in fact for such people that we have and enjoy a luxurious life –

with geyser during winters,

Air conditioner during summers,

Cars for commuting to & fro – the poor animals don’t have to pull the human weight..

Television to watch……mobile phone, microwave oven, Music system…..

{a break of 2 -3 weeks !}

Hiya! I had completely forgotten that I was writing an Autobiography!!

It’s a Sunday today – I am suffering from severe sour throat- sigh!

Anyways resuming my writeup…..

Okay was telling you all about my Delhi episode – cool !

Mom used to send a Tiffin carrier with wholesome meal for Sanjay & Suparna (my bro and sis)

Both were in Senior school by that time – they had a long break

Laxmi (usually) used to come to pick me up during that time as well as serve the long break Tiffin to my older siblings

My brother had some friends who used to stay in the hostel – even they used to share the food with my brother as when my mother had heard that boys stay away from home, she used to pack more lunch so that they get some taste of home food as well !

Some of the names I still remember – like Atthar Ali Khan, Sanjay Chowdhury…

They used to give me gifts actually – foreign pencils and perfumed erasers , sketch pens!

Probably the reason why I remember them….their names .

A False Guru Episode!!

My brother had two friends worth special mention – Sanjay & Naveen Kumar

They as well as their families had become very close to us

We used to go to their residence almost every Sunday

They were very rich people – their refrigerator used to be stacked with soft drinks and other rich food stuff

They used to love the Jelly + fruit custard & Caramel Custard that my mother made

So whenever they used to come to our house , the above item was a must

They had a huge house , very well decorated in a posh area of Delhi South Extention

They used to waste a lot, throw away things…like all rich people do I suppose

They had fallen in the trap of a Guru – !! a false one actually

He ate up whatever they had !!- they spent lakhs for Havan and kirtan with shudh Ghee and stuff – where the Guru said that Goddess Laxmi will reside in their residence forever!! Although the Guru himself was a pauper!! With 4 sons who were all nikammas (good-for-nothings).

I often used to hear my father mention to my mother..

“How come people are so foolish? When he can trap Goddess Laxmi for someone else – why not for himself first?”

A very logical question indeed!

After a long time – when I was in Class 9, we had once again visited their residence

They were almost living hand to mouth!

The younger son was running from pillar to post for a job of a waiter!

Imagine!- If only they had invested in proper Financial Investments..

Instead of doing havan & kirtan with some false guru,

They would definitely have had a better life !!

Okay back to me.

The Neighbourhood GirlIncident

Well I used to play with dolls

With my neighborhood girl friends…they used to live upstairs

The youngest one was quite a liar

She used to boast of some foreign Aunty of hers who had once given her a lacy panty!

That one lacy panty – she used to wear daily – till it got torn!!

She used to sit like an innocent child ofcourse…the reason how I could see her torn asset !anywyas she was only 4-5 years old – so its okay I guess…to squat and sit?

Anyways its much better for a 4-5 years old girl to squat to sit while at play

Her parents probably didn’t teach her to even sit properly – or even the school

What is worst is the current era models 20-25 years old – wearing a G-string and squatting! Here, time for a Tarzan Joke – I mean Yahoo joke – a colleague of mine forwarded it to me-

“whats the difference between the panties of 1970s and the panties of 1990s?”

ans : “ During 1970s one had to part the panties to see the buttocks and in 1990s , one has to part the buttocks to see the panties!” – oh! How easy things have become for men – with the advancement of …..science?- Bravo Fashion Panty Designers- three cheers !

Anyways , I used to wear Indian made panties, in fact mom had made some bloomers for me since even I had lesser sense of sitting properly, so when my Mom saw that after repeatedly teaching me to sit in a more Ladylike fashion- I failed to understand the logic or reason behind it, she made me quarter sized bloomers which I wore beneath my frocks or skirts. We are Indians. And my mother , a typical Indian , Bengali on top , Woman.

I used to be very fond of dogs. .pets actually – I used to see people taking their dogs for a walk on a leash , mom had denied totally the thought of any pet at home as her three pets (we 3 ie.) were driving her crazy !so I used to take a long string of wool, tie a stone at one one end , and run around the entire garden thinking my pet is following me!

Ummm what else? Delhi memories …

Oh! Yes – Television – our black & white television Philips…Standard…. it was I guess…don’t quite remember…

Actually my father was a Major at that point of time, but with God’s grace – his lucky stars …he got posted to Leh/ Ladak where he got double the pay coz’ of which as a Major only , he could afford to buy a car(Fiat), refrigerator (Godrej), Oven, toaster..etc . all that a woman (my mother had seen in movies/ read in magazines when in Kolkata as a young girl) had thought of.

Other Majors or Captains along with their families used to come over to our house every Sunday to watch the Sunday evening Movie – there was only one channel at that point of time – Doordarshan – with ying-yang symbol for half an hour was shown at 5:30 pm- with a kinda haunting music – I used to watch TV from that point on – actually I used to keep my seat since it was my house so I used to occupy the best view in front of my TV.

Then there were snacks and Brooke Bond Lipton Tea – our house was famous for all this actually…in fact some close friends who used to stay back till late evening had a different set of snacks like fish fry, fingers coupled with what?! – ofcourse – good old Rum – freely available in Army !

Well I think I must proceed from Delhi – if I remember more Delhi things – I’ll surely furnish you all with the minute details of em’ in my forthcoming Autobiography – Volume II.

English Oral Test

I was in Nursery then. We used to play mostly with maids so we always spoke in hindi – and the maid-class Hindi mind you. Anyways, as I have mentioned that I played a lot with Dolls and I was given the understanding…or got this belief that I am the Mother of all the 12 Dolls (at that point of time) since I used to wear saree and act as their Mother while celebrating their birthdays and marriages etc.

It so happened that during a mid term exam, our English Teacher (probably Ghosh Madam) asked me questions like : How old are you? And I had to say the complete sentence : I am 5 years old…like this.

So she just asked – Do you have any children?(it was a way to make us dullards understand relationships actually – like brother, sister, mother etc. I was obviously going to say ‘No’ but suddenly I remembered my dolls and felt “how will they feel if I deny that they are my children?!” and guess what? I replied ‘Yes’ !!

Mrs. Ghosh was shocked – I still remember her facial expression vividly – “what?! How many children do you have? – I said : 12 !!

She had written ‘Very Poor’ in English oral and even had written a remark to ‘Improve spoken english’ – my Mother had given strict instructions to my sister that I should only converse in English !!- we did for a couple of days …then we were back to Hindi !!

No one knows this incident – nor did I tell my Mother why exactly she cut my marks …because I knew where exactly I had gone wrong !! Just imagine ! What an innocent fool I was….probably still am.