In 1953, when I was 8, my father was transferred to the Vaigai dam. I went to Andipatti, a nearby town, in the project van for my studies. The school was Board High School. I studied there for 3 to 4 years. The school prayer song was " Sangam muzhangum Thiru Madurai"
I met my best friends Srinivasan, Daniel Surendran, Vasudevan, Thangavelu, and Bose there. Gowri, the engineer's daughter, was my best girlfriend. We used to sit together in the van and on her request, I wrote her name on all her books/notebooks since my handwriting was good.
The standard of Tamil was very good in Madurai district. I had visited Theni, Kambam, Bodi, Periakulam and other wonderful places. During holidays we used to go to KARADU where we inscribed our names on the rocks. We swam in the big KENI for hours.
We ate KODUKKAPULI and walked back to Vaigai Dam as there was no bus on that route. I still remember the OTHTHAI ADI PULIA MARAM on the way where strong winds collected fine sand on the road. I remember making my first solo journey from there to my village.
Srinivasan was a good singer. He used to sing the school prayer song. By birth, his left ankle was slightly twisted and he was limping. Thangavelu belonged to the backward community and was very friendly. We all used to sit together for our lunch and shared it.
I always took curd/sambar rice with vegetables, Vasu always brought Rava upma and Thangavelu brought Kambu Kali or koozhu, a broth-like dish. Seenu was a local boy and he went home for lunch. We had varieties every day and we enjoyed our meal to our heart's content.
There was a Recreation club at Vaigai Dam and I used to play all games. I was an expert in Carrom. My friend Daniel was short, bulky, wheatish in complexion and jovial. We were always seen together. We used to pluck seat cushion from the school van and made a football out of it.
We ran a hand-written magazine in Tamil called "KALANJIYAM" and circulated to everyone. His parents were getting milk powder from the US, and whenever I visited their house his mother used to give me a large tumbler of milk. Such a wonderful and affectionate lady.
Daniel was such a great friend and even now I am searching for him. Can anyone locate him? When I went to his house, his mother used to clean the fish for cooking by rubbing it on the stone to remove the fills. I would sit near her to observe it. She used to chide me for I was a vegetarian.
My father used to take us to Periakulam to see movies and also to Kodaikanal. Whenever I was at home, I took coffee in a flask to my father's office at 3 PM . At that time, he used to translate to me the story of "TARZAN" that was published daily in the last page of The Indian Express.
I met my best friends Srinivasan, Daniel Surendran, Vasudevan, Thangavelu, and Bose there. Gowri, the engineer's daughter, was my best girlfriend. We used to sit together in the van and on her request, I wrote her name on all her books/notebooks since my handwriting was good.
The standard of Tamil was very good in Madurai district. I had visited Theni, Kambam, Bodi, Periakulam and other wonderful places. During holidays we used to go to KARADU where we inscribed our names on the rocks. We swam in the big KENI for hours.
We ate KODUKKAPULI and walked back to Vaigai Dam as there was no bus on that route. I still remember the OTHTHAI ADI PULIA MARAM on the way where strong winds collected fine sand on the road. I remember making my first solo journey from there to my village.
Srinivasan was a good singer. He used to sing the school prayer song. By birth, his left ankle was slightly twisted and he was limping. Thangavelu belonged to the backward community and was very friendly. We all used to sit together for our lunch and shared it.
I always took curd/sambar rice with vegetables, Vasu always brought Rava upma and Thangavelu brought Kambu Kali or koozhu, a broth-like dish. Seenu was a local boy and he went home for lunch. We had varieties every day and we enjoyed our meal to our heart's content.
There was a Recreation club at Vaigai Dam and I used to play all games. I was an expert in Carrom. My friend Daniel was short, bulky, wheatish in complexion and jovial. We were always seen together. We used to pluck seat cushion from the school van and made a football out of it.
We ran a hand-written magazine in Tamil called "KALANJIYAM" and circulated to everyone. His parents were getting milk powder from the US, and whenever I visited their house his mother used to give me a large tumbler of milk. Such a wonderful and affectionate lady.
Daniel was such a great friend and even now I am searching for him. Can anyone locate him? When I went to his house, his mother used to clean the fish for cooking by rubbing it on the stone to remove the fills. I would sit near her to observe it. She used to chide me for I was a vegetarian.
My father used to take us to Periakulam to see movies and also to Kodaikanal. Whenever I was at home, I took coffee in a flask to my father's office at 3 PM . At that time, he used to translate to me the story of "TARZAN" that was published daily in the last page of The Indian Express.
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