Childhood reminiscences

One of the sins of old age, when not suffering from amnesia, is the mind’s capacity to recall past memories. Some are pleasant, some are otherwise; some attest to your success while some remind you of the failures. Those relating to failures or unpleasantness now throw open new  strategies  to deal with them; what is the use now! No, I am not going to recall such memories here. I will confine to some things which gave us immense pleasure as children and which may not even be known to the present day children.

First is the “peppermint” (Tamil speaking children mentioned this as “puppurmutu”) which to us was anything sold as candy. You could buy it for an amount as low as a quarter anna (one sixty fourth of a rupee). In size, it varied from the “Arisi (rice size)puppurmuttu” to the hundred times larger ones with almonds inside. You got the small sized ones by fistfuls and ate them one by one to make them go for long time consumption! The smaller ones were cumin flavoured sometimes.

The quarter anna itself was a treasure as it had a whole in the centre big enough to be worn as a ring on the small finger. It bought you an ice cream like what is now-a-days called Gola or a ball of Panju Mittai (cotton candy) or anything from a wrist watch to a parrot made from a thick multi-coloured pasty basic sweet stock wound over a wooden pole. ( Bombay mittai)

“Choclate” was the toffee wrapped in thin butter- paper   twisted clockwise and anti- clockwise on either side respectively. It was made of milk and not cocoa. Peeling the wrapper posed a problem during rainy season as the toffee got glued to the wrapper; so they were often chewed with the wrappers on!  Today our children have the real chocolates made of cocoa in different varieties with nuts, raisins and flavours.

Preparing to go to school did not take much time as it is now. Most students walked to the neighbourhood school with the books carried in their hands. School bags, if at all used, were cloth bags whose handles got torn often and required to be knotted. There was no back –sacks. Not many schools had prescribed dress uniforms, neck-ties etc.

Cinemas were seen in non- airconditioned theatres with side doors open after dusk to allow fresh air in. Tickets were to be bought by standing in long queues for hours.

Radios were a luxury, with only few homes affording them. They were perched high on the wall, out of reach of children and played only for limited hours and covered rest of the time with a cloth. Some parents allowed the children to listen to cricket commentaries and also Bianca Geet Mala. English news at 9 P.M. was a must not only for the father but for many children as well to get correct enunciation of the words from legendary news readers like Melville DeMello and Roshan Menon. The valve radios’ charm faded with the advent of the transistor radio assembling which also  became the hobby/ school project work for some children.

Yes , for most of us childhood was an enjoyable experience.