Once Upon A Time.......

Memories….They have a way of creeping up on you when you least expect them to.

Flashback……

Shimla, 1961. The Mall Road was flanked on either side by a row of spittoons and thrash bins right down its length. Printed on alternate bins were the innocuous instructions, “use me” and “thank you”.

Bhaiya and I skipped along The Mall, on our way to school, one promptly spitting in “use me” the other dutifully saying, “thank you”. This was our daily routine.

Our school must have been fairly close to our home, else our parents would never have let two 5 and 7 year olds walk the distance alone ,though, mind you, I let anyone who cared to listen, know, that I walked “ek meel” to school daily. In the afternoons, my class let off an hour earlier than Bhaiya’s, and the solo walk back was probably the most enjoyable part of the day for me.

One afternoon as I walked home, I look up at the sky. My jaw dropped in wonder and awe, as I saw my very first rainbow. I looked around. No Amma, no Bhaiya ! Who do I share this wonderful moment with? I ran home, looking up every now and again, lest I lose the rainbow. Faster and faster I ran, breathless, until I found myself in the comforting arms of Amma. “Look, Amma!”,I pointed a little finger upward.. She looked up, and a gentle smile spread across her lovely face. No one can share the joys of childhood like a mother can. We both sat on the porch steps and gazed at the rainbow till it faded away.

The moment is frozen and stored away in a corner of my memory reserved specially for her.

Our house was perched atop a small hillock as most houses in hill stations are. While there was a proper road leading up to the house, I preferred going up the rocky hillside, which was strewn with pebbles and small rocks. Every afternoon was a new adventure for me, for I believed that I was actually rock climbing, braving the little rocks rolling down and scraping me, while I plucked flowers for Amma on my way up.

And then, one day, as I began my trek up, humming away, I stopped dead in my tracks! Monkeys! Not just one or two, but at least a dozen of them! Monkeys were not unknown in Shimla, but never before had I seen them on the road to home. I could not turn back, as the fear of them coming up on me from behind was great, and I could not go ahead. So, I stood right there, petrified, not knowing what to do. How long I was there I do not know, but the sight of a little girl sitting on a rock, sobbing away, attracted the attention of a passerby. He kneeled beside me and pointing upward asked,”Do you live up there? ” I nodded. Shifting his umbrella to his left hand, he picked me up and carried me home. All instructions of not talking to strangers had fled, and all at once I had found a hero. Here was this brave man, undaunted by the dangers before him, wielding his black sword with a curved handle, ready to strike! And suddenly, I knew my destiny! I would grow up to be a knight of sorts, with a huge black umbrella, rescuing little girls in distress! Won’t Amma and Papa be proud?......

Shimla was sooo full of some of the most exciting moments for me.

My first solo shopping…

The first time I was lost….

The first time I was bit by a monkey….

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Memories......