At Home !!

We reached home by morning 10. The owner of our house and neighbors were eagerly waiting for our arrival. All are Telugu people. I felt the passion, love they have towards us. No matter what the language they speak, what the culture they follow, they are the most lovely people I ever met.

They treated us well, like our own people, even better, and we continue to get this support and care until we left Vishakapattanam.

Since my father was working in Ship as Captain, he will come after few weeks or even months. So those days some one from neighborhood will come and stay with us in the night. Maheswari was a girl, who served as a lot. She has the smell of Lilly. Every morning she go to our terrace, there we cultivate lilly. She used to pluck those lilly flowers and made long flower chains and decorate her hair with that. I sometimes felt like it is for what she woke up in the morning.

As I grow up, I got too many friends around. None of them are malayalees, all telugu speaking children. So I became more fluent in Telugu than in Malayalam. Some of my friends there were Murali, Shiva, Paru etc. I don't remember their face now, but every moments with them are still in my memory.

When I was 1.5 years old, my father bought a TV, BPL 21" color, which was an amazing new for the people there around. So when ever a movie came in TV, all those guys would present there in our house.

We had an area at our home which looks like a very congested tunnel, and we can see the nearby ground and other houses in that area, by standing on the steps to that tunnel looking area. The glad part is only I can stand there, because it was too small for the elders to get on it. Their body would get stuck. It was when I am 2 years old, my main hobby was standing over the stone and watching herd of buffalos in the next ground. I saw crows were sitting over them and the buffalos didn't seem to be annoyed. My mother told me that the crows were searching for their food. Later I understood, the insects on the buffalo's body were the food for crow. She also told me, by doing this they are helping each other. Crow will get its food and buffalo will get relief from itching. I learned the lesson "mutual help" from there.

One day I was standing in those tunnel watching a hut a nearby, which is "Appyamma's" home. She was very old, she came to our home frequently to see me, and my mother used to gave her food and money for her needs. She was so poor. Each time when she came, she gave me tapiocas which was cooked in flame. I like that very much, but my mother sometimes scolded her for giving that to me, as it was not a healthy food. It contain ashes and dust over it. So she stopped bringing it to my home, instead I will call her from the top of tunnel and she gave the tapioca from there ;).

But this stopped soon, as I met with an accident while standing on the tunnel.  I got my right leg stucked between there. I couldn't pull my leg back. It was that much aching,  and I started crying loudly. My mother,her sister (my hema meemi) and my uncle (Ajayan) came for my help. After pouring oil and I don't know what else, they saved me from there. That put a full stop for my hobby.

During the day time, I was wandering in my house, as I was locked inside. I wish to go outside. But my mother was afraid to leave me like that. One day, I found the best time to go out was when the people came to watch movie. Yes, the best opportunity to go out. Without thinking twice, I left home and walked to nearby shop, where I could get sweet lime soda. I drunk that twice before. Its taste was amazing, even now I could feel the taste :)

Unfortunately, while I was sitting in the shop, my father came. He got cat eyes. He just stared at me. I got panic like anything. I wish I could go down the earth. He took me to the home. There the crowd, he understood why my mother was not able to notice my departure.

Just a few seconds, I didn't understand what was happened. A sound.. " tappe ", yeah I felt the heat in my legs. It was the first beat I got from my father. Literally speaking, the first and last. He never beat me ever since. But I couldn't forget that day, the fire from his eyes and the pain on my leg. I ran to my mother and she hold me. I couldn't stop tears running out of my eyes. After beating me, my father got a guilty feeling. I don't know why. He tried a lot to console me, but he failed. I couldn't explain the pain I was feeling in my heart, it was more than the pain on my leg.

But after a few hours, he succeeded in bringing a smile on my face by giving me my favorite sweets, toys and frocks.
We all went out to the Moor market that evening and went to beach and enjoyed the day. My father didn't beat or even scold me there after. More specifically, I never made any such problems, I never try to go out without permission. I become the most obedient girl for my parents. It was the power of that day.