Recollections 1982-1990
Hi Blog, owner here. So sorry for not talking to you for almost a year.
Well, my project has been released successfully (Microsoft.com/infrastructure) and so I can give you some time today.
Let me go back in time and jot down some of the hilarious and happy sequences that I can remember. Today I shall talk about life before 1990 -
[Baby stage] 1982-1990
Hmm, I remember Tirthamuk vividly- those 200 odd staircases to climb the tilla; our quarter, the gigantic turbines; BSF chowky; local bachhes; tokke (some huge lizard that used to haunt me). I used to wait for my mummy`s signal in the afternoon and once I got the go ahead, no one could stop me and my tri-cycle. I remember once a boy got seriously hurt trying to catch me.
I remember Jodu kaku (baba`s driver), doctor kaku (Sajal Deb) and my beloved Choshma mamu :-)
Doctor kaki said I was once lost in the annual fair and they had a torrid time finding me; all the time I was busy playing my dhol that was made of a coconut oil container.
Maa once told when didi used to gulp her food, I used to remind her ‘Boo, chibu chibu’ :-D. And that I was an apple juice baby and was never in milk. Didi used to finish my cerelac.
We left Tirthamuk when I was around 3 years old, I guess.
Next halt was Jatanbari.
I only remember that we had a biiiiig tree on the porch, and I used to run around it while my mom huffed and puffed while trying to oil my body. Don’t think we stayed there for more than a few months. Then it was time for Agartala and my nursery classes :-)
Agartala was heavenly, thamma and her stories, monai (my cousin, 26 day younger but calls me barda) and our lion and tiger imitations, lime/lemon (she was my best pal, what a pity I don’t have any contact with her), dilip bhaiya (lime`s elder brother, my first cricket idol), kunal, baapi, debashish and so many more..
I joined Florid kinder garden and really enjoyed my school. I still remember maa waking me at 7, we walking together to my school. She used to take me back too.
After school I had life for company, we used to have a blast!
I cried when lime and dilip bahiya left our house and went back to their native place.
Monai took her place whenever kakumoni vsited agartala and we had a whale of a time together. I still remember me and monai vs kakumoni cricket matches wherein a zigzag shot between the two fences would fetch us 6 runs!!!
And there was College Jethu and his drawings of lion and tiger. Everybody`s favorite jethu would take us for a ride in his motor-cycle (Kawasaki explorer).
Me and monai used to go to balamandir where we made friends with some real nice guys (bappuda, tupai, partha da).
Then came 1989 and it was time to join a secondary school. Our 1st choice was Shishu Bihar (didi used to study there since nursery) but alas! We (me and monai) were too shy, we were rejected in the merit list :-(
We joined Vivekananda Vidya mandir where I met Kunal ( used to stay opposite our home and a cricket maniac till date). We jelled instantly. We also used to go to the same art classes (Annka shekha) [Bengalis are supposed to paint, play some musical instrument/sing and study like anything]. One day I invited kunal to our house and he brought his 6 inch long bat with him, that was our first tryst with serious cricket.
Wow! Me and monai got our place in some subsequent merit list in Shishu Bihar (I don’t know how) and it was time to join the Red Brigade. We made friends with a few, most notable being Bapi and Coconaka (rajesh).
I used to get trashed everyday in school, be it thuff thuff Sumit or Ratnadeep and Sweta. In between me and monai used to write alphabets and numbers in the classes; I remember Lily aunty screaming, “Issh ki okhaiddo lekha” to monai`s Bengali handwriting :-D
Bappu da was a year senior to us and was our guiding star in school, he used to show was where the bullies used to stay. Didi was also there but then she was too fast for us to follow!
Also I made friends with my ‘mama’ Vickey with whom I shared a lot of happy moments afterwards.
Contd..
