Friday, July 7, 2017

Did I really do that?

Sometimes a scent, a song or a name is enough to take us on a trip down the memory lane.

This week, #ThankfulThursdays is asking us to go on a journey to those colorful days of childhood where the world was full of wonder, every second a discovery and everything pure and bright.

We hardly remember stuff from the years when we were very young, like incidents that happened when we were below the age of five. 
Yet, those are the things that get discussed most during family get-togethers. Stuff we deny vehemently yet the others insist they are living proofs! 

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I am rumored to have played certain roles during my drunken era in life.
Let me list a few roles which come back to haunt me regularly during family dinners or functions.

The Drama Queen:

According to my mother, one day I returned from the nursery vowing never to step into the place ever again. Never had I faced such an insult and my parents were to blame. Curious, my mother asked what happened. I asked her how she could send me to nursery carrying a tattered umbrella which had such a big hole that I had to use a finger to hide it from the world. She opened the umbrella to inspect. After searching for one whole minute she gave up. She couldn’t find anything. When she declared that, I scowled at her and asked her to examine properly. We stood together under the umbrella when she opened it under a beam of light. And lo, there it was, a pinprick of light coming through the tiniest hole in the cloth. And I pointed it out to her with disgust.

That tiny hole still taunts me!

The Scientist:

One day my brother, who is five years older than me, became the center of attraction (much to my displeasure) when he was describing one amazing experiment they had done in the school lab. They had produced hydrogen artificially and filled it into a balloon. The balloon had grown to the size of a big apple.
Immediately I sniggered, looking down upon my nose at him. Obviously, the same experiment had been done in our kindergarten and the balloon had grown as big as a jackfruit. (See, a bigger fruit!) I couldn’t understand why everyone laughed. They immediately wanted to see it. How could they when the balloon had accidentally flown off and had burst after getting pricked by the thorny branches of the nearby tree. When they wanted to climb the tree to collect the pieces of the balloon, I told them not to bother. The kids from the neighborhood had already picked them up.

Did I say I hate hydrogen balloons?

The Zoo Keeper:

I was always my father’s pet. Whatever be the breakfast at home, my father customized it for me in a special way by mixing honey, banana, jaggery, milk, ghee etc. Puttu, Upma, Chapathi, Avil… everything transformed into tasty bite-sized balls that I could easily pop into my mouth.

 But, to my horror, I had two jealous elder siblings who were experts in stealing from my plate. Their favorite game was pretending to be the ‘Tiger’ and the ‘Lion’ respectively. When I was about to eat, the Tiger and the Lion would materialize near the plate, roaring, demanding to be fed. If I didn’t, they might just eat me instead. Bawling, I would feed them until my father came and shooed away the hungry cats.

They still tease me saying what a scaredy cat I was! What nerve!

Yet these incidents have become special in their own special way. I am convinced they are the reason why I became a storyteller! That was my training period, you see!

I am thankful that these memories still make people smile. 

This post is part of #ThankfulThursdays being hosted by Amrita, Deepa, Mayuri and Tina.


15 comments:

  1. Ha ha ha.. that was the cutest. I can just imagine a tiny you crying and feeding the cats. And I loved that quote - Childhood is like being drunk. For now I'm collecting my kids' escapades to bug them later.

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    1. Good idea. I am using some of my kid's dialogues in the stories that I write. He complains though. :D

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  2. Stories of Childhood are a drunken episode which has memories filled with joy .Thank you so much for writing with us for #ThankfulThursdays

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  3. Stories of Childhood are a drunken episode which has memories filled with joy .Thank you so much for writing with us for #ThankfulThursdays

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  4. What a fun read this was, Preethi! You had me smiling throughout! I especially loved reading about 'Tiger' and 'Lion' :)))))))
    Thank you for writing for #ThankfulThursdays

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    1. Glad you liked it. I suspect I enjoy the retellings even though they repeat it to irritate me. :) The 'tiger' and the 'Lion' are still nasty creatures. :D :D

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  5. These are some superb stories of childhood.. The Tiger & Lion story was really funny! Being the eldest daughter of family, i realise must ask my younger siblings if they ever got into such sneering phase due to my Tiger/Lion acts hahaha

    Here's mine http://www.gleefulblogger.com/2017/07/08/childhood-memories-thankful-thursdays/

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    1. Thank you Dipika!I am sure they have plenty of stories to share. :D

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  6. hahaha..Such beautiful memories! These are certainly memories for life

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  7. Well Preethi, siblings are responsible for shaping our character today. I am truly blessed to have my brother with whom I remember some of my sweetest memories.

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  8. Haha..these are some fun memories with your siblings. I wish we could go back to childhood and those fun days. Thanks for writing for #TT

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