Tuesday, December 1, 2015
good, bad or both
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Brink
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Memoirs of My Childhood - Part 2 (1973 - 1976)
I remember enjoying these three years. I do not recall the first day. But on many days i try not to stay there with strangers. One day some girl bit me on my cheek and i was given some sweets to stop me from crying. My mom said that i had an oval and dashed cut marks on my cheek from the teeth of the one who bit me. Other than a few faces, i cannot bring to my mind the many children i played with.
I went to school on the paddle of my fathers bicycle. This journey was an interesting inspiration which i carried in my mind for long. The footsteps of my father, the sound of the bicycle wheel turning on non even sand roads, the talk of the passing people and the bell of the bicycle which i played with. The "walking" buildings that became bigger as they came closer, the few vehicles on the road zooming in as they go and the shadows playing around. Most interesting was the rainy days when there were puddles on the road. This is when i can see the reflections.
We stop some days at a shop (70 no. Majeedhee Road) to buy cotton candies. It is something i was surprised with. how the shop keeper made those candies was the interesting part. He put a stick into a steel box with a circular hole in it and turned his hand in a circular motion. After sometime when he put his hand out, i was shocked to see a pink cotton like fluffy thing around the stick. he told me to press it and eat. But some days i do not press but tried to eat quickly and the sugar get stuck on my face. The other sweets of the time that i liked was a yellow coloured rectangular pineapple flavour candy called "alanaasi metaa", a pink colour oval candy called "delta metaa", a small square locally made "one laari" sugar candy and a circular rainbow striped candy. But now i think that these must be the only few candies available those days.
There was a large frangipani tree at a corner of the school. This tree is still there as a center piece of the public space now outside of the school. A steel square structure was kept at the play area and it was fun climbing it. Some days i use to sit and play on a rocking horse. One day some kid pulled it so hard that i nearly fell. What i remember most are counting sticks which i thought was long "kana-madhu" (indian almonds).
My teacher was Nirmala whom i still remember. I met her in recent years and even she still remembers. I remember her as an always smiling one. I do not remember her in any other mood. She was a kind and polite Sri Lankan teacher who married a Maldivian and was later in school management.
The day my pre schooling ended i took a picture at home, in school uniform and with my other siblings. My father prepared a banner reading "finished montessori - 1976". I still have this photo and have a look every now and then to recap the good old moments. I remember the day we took the photo. My younger sister, who was the youngest then, was trying not to come for the picture.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Memoirs of My Childhood – Part 1 (1971 – 1976)
I do not remember 1971 or 1972. My pre 1976 memories include dancing grass, moving shadows, a little sandpiper, coral masonry without doors, a twinkling red light and endless sea.
Some days I simply squat in this dancing grass. It is when the morning light is soft and low. I hide there quietly motionless until I feel the warmth of the glowing afternoon. I see my shadow dance with the tall thin grass of many greens. This wind that comes to me, no one sees but my closed eyes. Pass beyond me it goes chasing the grass and the grass runs to hide.
Some days I sit under the portia tree at the entrance of our home. Then, it was not the tree which interests me, but now I admire and collect the timber of it. I remember staring at the shadows under the tree. I see slow moving groups of many circles in varying neutral tones. Overlay into one another making deeper shades of intersections. And little orange ladybugs with black dots on its back move around it.
One day I remember we had a little sandpiper bird. It was very quick in moving around the house. It went into a hole in the coral masonry and never came back.
These walls had no doors for some time. Only a light cotton curtain covered the entrance. I remember the nights when we sleep. This curtain rise when that wind which no one sees pass through. That is when I see a twinkling red light from a distant dark sky. Later I knew that it was a signal light at the top of the television station tower.
In front of our home is the ring road, then called the marine drive, of the capital and beyond is the endless sea. A light blue green is all I see for a far distance. My elder brother takes me to the sea without telling mother. He is always too active unlike me. I remember the sea was fun. There is a very deep certain area on the left side in a distance. The people of the town call that location Amelia Depths. Amelia was a famous dancer who lived during that time. And later I came to know why people named that deep area by her name. It seems that she gave birth to her child in the depths of that lagoon. I was fascinated with the colourful fishes and the corals and seashells that we find plenty. But the interesting part is the return home after the enjoyment from the sea. From returning we quietly go to the bathroom for a shower. The bathroom is a large detached outdoor place with coconut thatched walls. At one side is a large well surrounded by a circular cement floor. There is a cylindrical tin a foot in diameter and to it is fixed a long round stick. We call it “dhaani”, and it is used to take water out from the well and we pour on our head for a great shower.
Everyday on our return from the sea we get caught by our mother. This was really frightening for me but still I join him the next day.