Pensieve*

My childhood seems to be a dream to me these days… I cannot even imagine such wonderful things; such adventures were there in my childhood…. It was more of nomadic life then… Hills all around to go for trekking… Rivers full with fishes waiting to get caught… and nature’s abundance everywhere in every form.

Great rock structures, wonder how I managed to get on top of all those, and the trips we made in search of wild flowers. And the expeditions in search of the riverhead… wild fruits we enjoyed... Games well suited for our rock filled rivers… all those hide and seek played there... My first trekking ground!

And the fishing trips… Just back from school, next moment I will be there in river ... with my father... and all those neighbors…….. We managed to obstruct the river flow for a while with our instant dams and the fresh water fishes we got there... All the varieties …. from ‘kallemutty’ to prawns.

During Onam season we went in search of wild flowers and when Christmas search will be for “unneesoppullu” to make crib. And the surprising discoveries we made in terms of the flora and fauna.

And with monsoon comes all the suspense of a village… River turning wild in a flash of a second… Frightening everyone with its rage and fury…. Uprooted trees and tree trunks all the way down the river… All those temporary bridges washed away with the first rain…The long routes we had to take to school in order to avoid her rage… New waterfalls taking shape with every monsoon… Thunder, lightning and the cold breeze…. which can chill the bones. Frogs and ‘cheeveedu’ occupying the nights…..


Rain…rain….and mangoes! Baskets overflowed with mangoes in the courtyard!!! Store rooms filled with mixed aroma of ripe mangoes and pickle. Jackfruits being discarded by everyone including cows … bananas, guava and lemon…all fresh from garden…Nice baths that we had in rainwater…

The animals which filled our farm house…. Both domesticated and the other… cows, goats, rabbits, chickens, cats, dogs and ‘rats’. Tortoise that we got occasionally… thief squirrels from our coco trees…. Snakes which made a visit once in a while…. Two headed snake (?) (‘Iruthalamoori’) which we came across in our field… and the yellow rat snakes (‘chera’) mating in our field… Monkeys that made their morning visits to eat papayas…

We worked with others in the field… and that too with full energy and enthusiasm! The food we shared with others… How tasty it felt after so much physical effort!

Candles and kerosene lamps which made our nights bright…. Grandfather explaining their success over land… their troubles….adventures…. and their strong will before all those disappointing incidents. …his terrifying encounters with python... their ‘kudiyetta kadhakal’… Mother narrating their day to day encounter with wild elephants…. how they managed everyday on tapioca and fish… Stories that lulled us to sleep … and the songs …

…And the village craftsmen… Those worked with bamboos and ‘illi’. Their routine of collecting bamboo from forest… their flat black plastic sandals and the cloth piece on their right shoulder used to reduce the pain… Full sweat black bodies shining in the scorching sun…

…And my experiments with ‘olamedayal’. Coconut leaves left in shallow water to get disintegrated a little… After that we removed them from there and a little handwork …. We turned them into nice rooftop material which can protect us in one rainy season… How happy I felt looking at my dirty hands … The smell of mud which can raise any village soul…

Now, after a few years of struggle, when I sit back to think of my past, all these things seems unreal….like a dream… And I am thankful for getting such a wonderful experience with nature.

*Pensieve : Basin to store excess thoughts from one's mind, stone receptacle in which to store memories.

Moments

My sister left all her books to me
Before leaving her rented house
She kept away Hussain’s painting
Only to give it at another time.

...

There is nothing new to you
Only you are late .... to learn it.