‘’ Fond
memories of my childhood ‘’ [ 19 ]
‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
Including the Dr’s children we were seven,four boys and three girls ,we played in the
backyard of our house; plucked guava and other fruits and enjoyed ourselves.
Neither war
nor the freedom movement affected us in
anyway.
.We enjoyed
the food Bajra puttu ;wheat dosa ;tapioca with fish curry;,,,,every day there would be one
new food items.Often the schools were closed for a few days and when
opened.Processions , meetings and lathi charges were a usual thing.On the other
side ,the world war and the news of war victims and the bombing continued.
.There was an open ground in front of our house, almost everyday there were meetings
;yelling out slogans….and all the meetings ended in a lathi charge.
Might be
because of that we were shifted temporarly to a house in Kalady.
A very
small, thatched house….on the banks of Periyar…My eldest sister with her baby
went to her husband’s house.A big shed was made in front of the house for the
boys , uncles , and cook to sleep.Mummy and we girls used to sleep inside the
house.Dad was very busy… everyday a jeep from the station came home to
pick him up and he came very late at
night.The place was only
Four miles
away from Perumbavur.Any way I don't remember how long we
stayed
there, one or two months perhaps. One day we walked across the river because at certain points
the depth was only up to our knee .Sri Shankara temple was just opposite to our house and we went there
and worshipped. After a short stay there we came back to Perumbavur.
As time
passed on, the news about the war ;about
the freedom movement
Student
strike,and factory workers strike and
everything became a usual thing
and the
people got used to it.Only thing is that
they needed a news to talk about ,that was all. During this time one day
an ambulance came home…Ammu aunty was brought inside the house in a
stretcher…followed by Baby aunty my
youngest aunty ,My mum Baby aunty and all of them were weeping.I felt very
sad to see Ammu aunty in that state.She was so thin only skin and
born….her words were very soft ….could not hear at all.We had to bend down to her
mouth to hear.
Later on I
came to know that she had T.B .In those days T.B was considered
as fatal …as .no effective medicines and no specialists were there Day by day she went weak.My mum
Baby aunty and Madhavan uncle sat near her in turn through
out the day
and night to nurse her.We children were not allowed to enter the room.A doctor
used to come home often to give her the possible treatment.
One day she
passed away.She was buried in the back yard of our house.One of my maternal
cousins and myself did the rites.After Ammu aunty’s death
Baby
aunty never went to our family house at
Quilon.She stayed with us for some time
and then with her elder sister Thankamma aunty in Cochin.
‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
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