These days, Those times!

I watch the children play every evening. Most of them have come out, skating, surfing on their wave board, cycling, scootering, kicking the big ball, tossing the small one, and hitting hard, running and shouting occasionally. All of them, without exception are neatly dressed. Clean clothes and cleaner faces, well groomed hair, clean hands and legs, and wearing well-maintained & in mint condition shoes!

When I was young me and my friends always looked like we recently returned from a battle torn zone. My best friend Pappu, most times had one of his hands in a sling or a plaster cast leg. You throw a stone anywhere and it would hit Pappu – he had a great appetite for disaster, be it falling from the litchi tree or banging his bicycle behind the lazing bullock or simply missing a step and rolling down the stairs!

Me??  I was more of a minor injuries kid of the OPD/first aid variety. My speciality was deeply scarred shins and knees that were perpetually smudged with lal davai (red medicine) or junkshun  violet depending on what stock mom had at home. Lal davai was a mean medicine. It hurt 10x more than the actual wound. 

Lal Davai is tincture iodine – deep orange in color & junkshun violet is the purple coloured Gentian Violet.

I also frequently sported a big cotton swab stuck securely on my forehead or eyebrow or chin with a cross of brown Johnson medical tape (no band aids those days).

And broken teeth, split lips, swollen black eyes or a finger in a splint were abundant amongst us and switched from one to another in a round robin manner. We also suffered from many seasonal ailments like blocked nose, running nose, nose bleeds, conjunctivitis – but none of them ever stopped us from coming out and play.

Looking back at these kids I do not see a single scratch, or a small scab – amazing!! What perfect examples of wonderfully well groomed & well-behaved children!

I am certain my mom would have doubled a king’s ransom to get us swapped with these kids any day!

Us = me and my three sisters.

Our ages - as in arithmetic progression 2,4,6 & 8 with me being the eldest - brightest and smartest too (some male chauvinism here).

I overheard one mom casually mentioning – my daughter comes home, goes for a wash, eats her food. Then she completes her homework and then only goes out to play.

 What is happening to today’s kids, I wonder? Are they real kids or fine-tuned well programmed young robots? 

I thought we were the real kids – rushing home from school, scattering our khakhi school satchel (no fancy backpacks those days) and our uniforms on our bed, tossing our shoes under, grab our chapatis and roll them over dry subzi and rush out to play. I think we were the original inventors of Frankie & Kathi Roll.

And homework, what homework??  Did the teacher give us any homework??  

For a long time, I did not even realise that I had to seriously study to pass my classes. Up till 3^rd or 4^th class it was a cake walk! My mom and dad would visit my teacher (small community where everyone knew each other) every Dussehra, Diwali, and New Year with a big tray of sweets and a gift-wrapped box. They would talk softly, stealing glances at me (guess those were informal PTAs then ??), my dad frowning, mom almost crying. And the teacher would then give a polite understanding nod and I would pass!!

Going to school after 4^th std became real challenging as both my teachers and parents expected me to do some real hard studies (a complex function for which I was neither adequately designed for, nor properly programmed)

I feel so glad when I watch kids go to school so happily. Good for them! Wish I had been born 60 years later.

My school days at St. Joseph’s Academy were not that joyful. Run by the strict Irish Catholic mission, Brother Dooley, Brother Duffy, Brother Dunne, Brother Donald and Brother Donavan all endorsed caning. The pink, bald and rotund Brother Donovan would slowly & softly repeat ‘ you … couldn’t ….care .. less …Krish’ as he administered a couple of stinging lashes on my palms and on my bums. (by the way, I still wear thick, doubleknit, one size larger boxer underpants).

The other teachers were no softer. The tall and well-built lady Hindi teacher specialised in tweaking our ears painfully and lifting them up. We had to tilt our heads, stretch our necks and extend each & every vertebra in our spinal column and balance on our toes to ease the pain.

Maths madam was short and slim and South-Indian. She had a sharp nose and a sharper tongue.  She would rap us on the knuckles with the thick wooden chalk duster.  I also got special bonus warnings -  Palla voddachooduvein! Thoala urichooduvein!! Meaning I will knock off your teeth, peel off your skin!!

Sarge Thapa (ex-Sargent-Gorkha Rifles) our PT teacher was the deadliest. Lord Voldemort would have loved him.  His deadly spell was “Murga-Bano!!!” a posture where you had to spread your legs slightly, bend your knees, bring your hands from behind and thru the legs and catch your earlobes. A few minutes into this asana and every muscle in your body screamed. South India’s popular tamil spell ‘thoppukarnam podu’ is a cake walk compared to ‘Murga Bano’!

The only good memories I have of my school-going days were the Tanga (horse drawn buggies) rides to and back from school.

While the kids today travel on fresh yellow painted buses with impressive names (mostly IBs) stencilled on their sides, we rode on our humble tangas, 6 to 8 kids jampacked in each buggy.  Our satchels and plastic water bottles hanging from each and every protruding wood and nail all around it and drawn by a big sized healthy white mare named Chandini. The choice seats were at the back. No one wanted to sit in front, behind Chandini’s wide bums, because she farted, like forever! A bucket full of fresh grass generously topped up with chana gram (kudarai kollu in tamil) and shalgam (turnips) each day kept her belly full of gas all day. Take off her harness and I would not be surprised if Chandini got airborne like Pegasus!

More on my school days later … and one last thing before I wrap up.

Walk up to any kid here and ask his/her name.

90% chance you would get a name starting with an ‘A’ like in  Anandita, Aarna, Aadit, Ahana, Ahaan, Advait, Ardra or Aarushi!!

Surprised??  You may be, but I am not.

My friends back then were Billu, Bittu, Beera, Babloo, Bunty, Babbu, Babita , Binaca and Babli !!! Incidentally, Babli was my best friend. She was also the self-appointed leader and the alpha male of our gang!!

PS:  My childhood days were split between 2 quaint little towns – Vellore in South and Dehra Dun up north.

Sadly, Pappu died four years back. Billu is in Saharanpur,    and Babita is a practicing Doctor in Agra.

Krish..