Saturday, August 11, 2018

An evening @ Palladian!!


I open my front door and a fast-thin form zips past by me.

The thin girl from third block is on her two wheeled skateboards. She glides gracefully down the foyer and just before she slows down to a halt, her waist twists rapidly, the back-leg swings sideways and she propels herself with a new force riding over the paved surface and into Block 1.
Soon some more join her – the chubby one with perpetually rosy cheeks, the smart one with good English and a great accent to identify a few. And they glide smooth on whatever surface.

If you have at any time watched a group of ‘krishna’ Garudans (Brahminy Kite ), lazily surfing the warm thermals, you would notice these kids ae no different. Such grace, poise, elegance and balance on their surfboards!

And the boys, as usual, making a racket between block 5 &1.

Everything has changed. Girls do not play pandi (hopscotch) and boys play ( kanchey) marbles no more. Many may have never heard of Pittoo or Kho-Kho.  And whatever is  gulli-danda ??
Thankfully I-Spy has survived the test of time. A few tiny tots hide behind the giant sofa and behind the pillar next to me .

Do you know what was my favourite pastime when I was five??  
Rolling an old bicycle tyre with a short stick! and I could do it all day. All thru the narrow streets near my thatha’s (grand-dad’s)  house in Vellore, over the parapets, over the uncut logs in Velu mama’s veragu thotti ( wood cutter’s yard ) over lazy-Muthu the old mongrel, right thru the water puddle leaving nice wet kaal marks ( foot prints) accompanied by a wavy line, and into the house, right across the freshly mopped hall, into the muttham ( tiled courtyard) drawing a tight circle, and running out real fast closely chased by  my chitti with a hot dosa thuduppu (steel spatula),  over the stairs …. until my tyre got entangled under a passing cycle rickshaw or banged straight into the motta-paati  ( a widowed grandmother ) next door .  And what a vocabulary she has reserved for such occasions, and in chaste Tamil . WoW!!

I snap out my musing to watch my neighbour conducting her durbar outside.  She sits erect on the marble parapet, with her two friends on either sides and a group of folks in a semicircle around her. Seems they are discussing something serious. With grave faces and in measured voices. Must be MC matters. When all of a sudden, the august gathering erupts into loud laughter. The Chief has struck again, I know.  And the conversation resumes with shrill voices amidst animated banters.


Soon peace descends, the tall dad has served a full toss and the 6-year-old has connected well sending the ball on a high arc right over the fountain. 

No sound from the boisterous boys – probably busy searching for the ball.
And a wonderful tranquillity sets in .

All for a few seconds.

An ear-splitting shrieking sound followed by a thunderous roar rents the atmosphere.
Have some pishchas and pishashins (Banshee) been let loose???

I look up and watch Big Bertha fly overhead. She is on a yet another mission today. What an awesome girl she is!

Big Bertha (as I have fondly named her) is the huge strategic airlifter Illushin deployed by India Air Force. Its used for heavy hauling and mid-air refuelling as well. With a wingspan of 50 metres (that’s 165ft! ) and weighing 92 tonnes, it can haul another 90 tonnes !!
Imagine how much power the 4 turbofan engines need to generate to fly this big bird. No wonder the engines screen like crazy.

 And as she flies overhead, her wing span covers the entire Block 1 rooftop, her undercarriage close to scraping the overhead water tanks as she laboriously climbs inch by inch.
I can visualise the old battle scarred veteran pilot coaxing his big baby with soothing words ‘easy girl , easy. You can do it ‘ while he very slowly  pulls on the joy stick and pats her dials.

Back to terra firma ..

It’s become dark and the moms and maids have come, calling out to the children. Reluctant children keep playing and running away.

The clouds have heard the calls too and they tune in a fine drizzle. And everyone rushes back home!!

Krish..



7 comments:

  1. Excellent, always like to read such epitaph

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  2. Loved reading it and more so as I m a Palladian resident and could totally relate to it !! Keep writing Krish 👍🏻

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  3. Thanks Krish for bringing back childhood memories. Is there a chance for us to indulge in some of those games we used to play and perhaps the young kids may even love them?

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  4. You're so eloquent with even writing about common cold. Great, work! Keep writing!

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