Hi friends,
I was traveling from Hyderabad to Chennai by train. I did not get sleep. I was just thinking about my first journey in life. It happened in 1955 when I was just ten. I made it alone. You may be surprised how a ten-year-old boy could make a lone journey.
I was in Vaigai Dam studying 5th standard. After annual exams, I wanted to go to my maternal grandparents home at Valady village near Tiruchy. My father was not willing to send me alone. He could not take me also. He was not willing to oblige despite my assurance.
One day, my paternal grandmother complained to my father that I was mischievous, creating problems and advised him to pack me off. Reluctantly, my father agreed to send me to Valady. I took a pair of dresses, a maths book and notebook for doing homework, and just Rs.2/ for expenses.
There were Jaya and Rahim transports. Jaya was red and Rahim was blue. I went to Periakulam by Jaya. I took another bus to reach Kodaikanal Road. From there, I took a train to reach Tiruchy. As I missed the last train to Valady, I had to wait at the station for the next train early next morning.
Total expense till then was 12 annas ie 75 paise. I was left with one rupee and four annas. [ One rupee equals 16 annas and one anna equals 12 paise and one rupee equals 192 paise ]. I did not sleep throughout the night, walking the length and breadth of the platform, to save my property !!!
I loved the cool drinks. Vincent colour Goli soda was popular then. I was fascinated by the mechanism of the Goli. I wondered how the goli was put inside and how it was able to stop the gas from coming out. If you keep the goli on top, the liquid flowed out. If you keep the goli down, the flow got stopped.
It was one anna and I had 14 bottles during that night to avoid sleep. I simply enjoyed the burp. One must be careful while releasing the gas. By mistake, if you release it thro' the nose, it would be a different experience. I had a number of burps from 14 bottles.[ Later, my parents used to make fun of this incident]
I took the train at 5 AM. However, I could not control the sleep. I woke up at Lalgudi which was beyond Valady. The TTE asked for the ticket. I gave him the ticket up to Valady and told him that I slept and missed the station. He allowed me to go back to Valady by the same train on its return journey. A nice gesture.
To be with my grandparents was a wonderful experience. For two months, I could be under their love and care. I could play different games and also swim in the river with my friends for the whole day every day. What else a boy could enjoy in life during summer vacation? MAY GOD BLESS YOU.
I was traveling from Hyderabad to Chennai by train. I did not get sleep. I was just thinking about my first journey in life. It happened in 1955 when I was just ten. I made it alone. You may be surprised how a ten-year-old boy could make a lone journey.
I was in Vaigai Dam studying 5th standard. After annual exams, I wanted to go to my maternal grandparents home at Valady village near Tiruchy. My father was not willing to send me alone. He could not take me also. He was not willing to oblige despite my assurance.
One day, my paternal grandmother complained to my father that I was mischievous, creating problems and advised him to pack me off. Reluctantly, my father agreed to send me to Valady. I took a pair of dresses, a maths book and notebook for doing homework, and just Rs.2/ for expenses.
There were Jaya and Rahim transports. Jaya was red and Rahim was blue. I went to Periakulam by Jaya. I took another bus to reach Kodaikanal Road. From there, I took a train to reach Tiruchy. As I missed the last train to Valady, I had to wait at the station for the next train early next morning.
Total expense till then was 12 annas ie 75 paise. I was left with one rupee and four annas. [ One rupee equals 16 annas and one anna equals 12 paise and one rupee equals 192 paise ]. I did not sleep throughout the night, walking the length and breadth of the platform, to save my property !!!
I loved the cool drinks. Vincent colour Goli soda was popular then. I was fascinated by the mechanism of the Goli. I wondered how the goli was put inside and how it was able to stop the gas from coming out. If you keep the goli on top, the liquid flowed out. If you keep the goli down, the flow got stopped.
It was one anna and I had 14 bottles during that night to avoid sleep. I simply enjoyed the burp. One must be careful while releasing the gas. By mistake, if you release it thro' the nose, it would be a different experience. I had a number of burps from 14 bottles.[ Later, my parents used to make fun of this incident]
I took the train at 5 AM. However, I could not control the sleep. I woke up at Lalgudi which was beyond Valady. The TTE asked for the ticket. I gave him the ticket up to Valady and told him that I slept and missed the station. He allowed me to go back to Valady by the same train on its return journey. A nice gesture.
To be with my grandparents was a wonderful experience. For two months, I could be under their love and care. I could play different games and also swim in the river with my friends for the whole day every day. What else a boy could enjoy in life during summer vacation? MAY GOD BLESS YOU.
Dear Mama,
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to read your mail. I specially liked the part about the goli soda and the burp...ha ha!
Thatha actually allowed you to go alone at the age of 10 so far!! We are so protective about our kids now. Sometimes I send Amrut who is 9 yrs to run errands for me to a shop 5 min away from home...Amma says he is too young to be sent alone!!
I then had to remind her that Gow and me used to walk alone to school which was around 2 kms away when I was 6 and Gow, 9 years. We also had to sit outside our house in the dark till Amma or Appa came back from the factory. She then remembered about it.
In a way we are careful because the world is not a safer place now than before.
Nice reading about your childhood experiences!!
Take care
Vidhu
Dear Mama,
ReplyDeleteVery nice to hear about your childhood. It is amazing that your remember with so much clarity. Some of my memories have begun to fade away.. and I am horrified that I don't remember a few things anymore. When I think about it, it feels like a vague haze.
It was indeed very brave of you to make the trip by yourself.. I can also imagine the excitement that you must have felt - of being independent and taking decisions on your own. Instead of panicking that you missed the train - you took it in your stride - awesome.
Drinking 14 goli sodas was an indulgence. It guess it was the excitement of having the money to buy it and not having your father around to stop you. Thatha was very generous to give you Rs.2 - even though your journey costed less than Re.1. Looks like he planned for any emergencies that you may encounter (which didn't include drinking goli sodas 😊). I guess a parent's mind is always on the lookout for the child.. even though they may not explicitly show it out in some cases.
Hope you are doing well otherwise. I heard about the Annanagar home. Praying that everything comes into control and the house gets back into shape soon. My warm inquiries to Manni, Surya and Anu and hugs to Sahana.
Yours affectionately,
Gowri
Jayshree Narayan
ReplyDeleteJan 16 (8 days ago)
to me, Vijayalakshmi
Nice made up story I think...
May all beings be happy and get liberated