MY PRE-SCHOOL YEARS - 5

As mentioned earlier it was Grandpa who supervised my morning rituals and reciting of Vedas. I had developed a good rapport with Grandpa during this period of my life.

I think it was three or four months before I started going to school, I had occasion to be with him for most of the time during the day – for about a month. He was not feeling very well and was having body pain sometimes. He would say that it was only due to old age. Hearing about this, his sister, had sent word that he was to go to their house, stay for a month doing treatment like massages, oil baths etc. with special herbal oils. Couple of renowned vaidyars (village Appothikiris) of that time would attend Grandpa. So, the day was fixed and the palanquin came to pick up Grandpa.

I was accompanying him during this trip. He needed a companion through the day and probably he wanted to continue to teach me to recite Rig-Veda, which we were doing at home.

But sometimes, when we were not reciting Rig-Veda, he would talk about Nambudiri community and about our family. How our family came from another village far away, accompanied by many families of other communities who depended on us; why it was important to keep the traditions and the good culture and qualities of Nambudiris. He would talk about the chathurvarniam, the four classes, Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya, Sudra and how each community had their individualities but how together they make a society. Most of what he talked about was beyond comprehension for me at that time. But definitely they were food for thought. Also, I would miss Malu teacher during these discussions because I wished how I could have gone and sat in front of her and looked at those deep blue eyes and found the answers.

This period in my life, between the day Malu teacher left and the day I started going to school I felt very empty with more free time available. After the morning rituals, throughout the day I was free. I had more playtime with no companion. Achuthan, who used to play with me normally, had started going to school. This made me venture out more into the big estate surrounding our house. I would take a book and go sit under a tree and read. We had a good collection of books which were bought and stored secretly by my uncles in the second floor hall behind a cupboard. Aunts would tell me not to take the books outside as some of them were banned at that time.

One of my favorite spot was under the banyan tree within our compound. This tree gave shelter to me to sit quietly and read. Sometimes I would go around the estate, where there were lot of workers working. I was not supposed to go near some of them, though this rule was not being observed very often especially when elders were not around. But on occasions, when somebody spied on us and reported, I had to immediately take a bath and the offending worker would get a scolding.

I would look at the workers with wonder the way they climb up a coconut tree or an arikkanut tree. The biggest wonder of them all was when they make the thin arikkanut tree sway and jump from one tree to other. When ploughing was being done in the rice fields, using bullocks - especially during final preparation for replanting - they used to make the bullocks run in that muddy water, the boys themselves riding on the plough. It was very exciting for both the boys as well as onlookers like us. Sometimes the boys couldn't control and would fall down. These works I wanted to master some time or the other.

Grandpa would become very impatient with me when I read books. He would try his best to pull me out and practice some Rigveda recitation when I was found reading a book. As Malu teacher had taught me Devanagari script, I was able to read from Rigveda book of which we had a Sanskrit edition.

It was interesting to see and be able to read in print what only a voice recited down from Grandpa was so far. I never knew the meanings of the verses and actually, there was nobody in the house who could enlighten me. Malu teacher also, did not know Sanskrit and probably, that was one of the reasons why I would not take much interest in learning the Language. Otherwise if I insisted a little, Grandpa surely would have arranged a tuition. Probably, I thought at that time that what Malu teacher did not learn, was not worth learning.

Though not in connection with Sanskrit, what Malu teacher said at the time of leaving still rings in my ears. 'Omane, Learning never stops. If you get any chance to learn anything, take the chance. There is nothing in this world which is not worth learning!'

And miraculously, I thought, one night it was announced that I would start going to school when the school reopens after the vacation.