Prasad has been repeatedly asking me to contribute to the newsletter. I never had the confidence . But my husband insisted that I should contribute something in the newsletter that he makes. Moreover my niece Radha also motivated me. So here I am!

I have enjoyed the writings of Prasad, Mukund (we rarely see him in the newsletter nowadays!), Rahul, Raghu, Nithya,Radha and of course my husband. Talking of inspiration, I got inspired by my husband's article on his childhood and college days and feel like writing about my childhood.

I can remember myself as a 5 year girl, going to school with my eldest sister Choodakka at Tanjore. Choodakka preferred to have lunch with me as I was small and she could take a small brass tiffin box to the school. Poor Rukkakka and Pushpakka shared a big tiffin box. Both the boxes had handles ( Now only labourers carry such tiffin-boxes) which they didn't like. I used to sit with Choodakka's friends who were in class 10 and they all made fun of me for not swallowing the food. I was in class 1 at that time. I can vaguely remember that I was bed-ridden with chickenpox at the age of 4. My grandfather(mother's father) used to take care of me, my brother Santhanam and my sister Pushpa who were all affected by chickenpox at the same time. Raghu was just an year old at that time and so my mother could hardly spare any time for us. My grandpa was a very affectionate person who stayed awake in the nights to make hot water and horlicks for us with the help of 'kumutti aduppu', a sort of chulha. I can never forget the love and affection he showered on us. I was also very fond of him as he was the only grandparent alive at that time. He used to stay with us and his son (Seema mama) alternatively. The days at Pollachi with him are still fresh in my memory. He used to take me to the Friday 'sandhai', a weekly market and buy me the big peppermint . He always gave me the packet and asked me to distribute among my brothers and sisters. My siblings used to scold my grandpa for that as I was greedy at that time and never used to open the pack for the fear of emptying it by giving to others! We used to go to the famous Pollachi sandhai once a while (Remember the song "Manapparai madu katti..' from 'Makkalai Petra Magarasi'). It was on Thursdays. He had a great flair for narrating stories. He used to tell 4,5 stories (all having good morals) daily. Though he repeated them often, we were never tired of hearing them again and again. Maybe that is the reason that I can narrate them even now in the same way as my grandpa. I think I have told the stories to my children. But my husband, being a better narrator, was always preferred over me for telling the stories by my children.

Another interesting memory that I have of my grandpa is the way he used to pronounce 'emblathu' (eighty in Tamil). This is supposed to be the way people belonging to Thanjavur speak. I also remember how Raghu (my brother) used to tease Rajeevi manni's sister by repeatedly asking her to repeat the numbers from seventy to ninety in Tamil. Whenever I hear 'emblathu', I remember my grandfather and Raghu's teasing of Hema ( my manni's sister).

My grandpa was interested in crosswords also. He used to take part in many competitions both Tamil and English. His command of English was very good. My brothers and sisters used to seek his assistance in preparing for the debates. It is nearly 30 years since he died. I can still see him walking up and down in the small hall in our house in Vedachala gardens. I really miss him.

My first article has turned out to be a homage to my grandpa. I will write more about my childhood in my next.

Tip for the month