Rains, sugar and a few monsters

Rains! Rains were common for all. For young and old. Rains meant different for different people. But they descended their silver lines for everyone. As for me, rains poured down on my childhood like on lush rain forests. Noisy and cool. Fresh and scintillating. Green and sparkling. As a child, I had seen more rains than many of my age. Rain never stopped when I grew up. I drew strength and inspiration from them- incessant and pure.

One of those rainy evenings come particularly vivid when I think of my growing up years. I was 8 years old. It was July. Rains sang continuously in unison with the beetles and frogs day and night. Rains welcomed mornings and evenings. That evening, I was sent to the grocery shop to get sugar for some hot 'payasam'. 

While walking slowly in the rain with my new two-fold St. George umbrella, I felt fresh and bubbling. May be, I could buy a few chocolates with the balance amount. Splashing water from every puddle on the earthen road, the little boy in me walked merrily to the shop- my heart singing along with rain drops.

Glad to get some chocolates, I walked back holding the sugar packet in one hand and the umbrella in the other. To reach home I had to walk almost half a kilometer through thickly grown cocoa plantation. Even day time would seem like night in there. So dark. And so silent. As I was entering the plantation, rain intensified. And silence vanished. Large rain drops fought with cocoa foliage screaming like thunder. Deafening noise. The sun disappeared behind dark clouds. I couldn't see anything. I was lost. In blinding dark, in deafening noise.

I didn't know from where, but fear started sweeping in. Snakes with round yellow spots on them. And imps with long pointy ears and curly tails! Monstrous creatures! In my mind, I could see all of them behind those cocoa tree foliage waiting to prey upon me. The foul evening's spirits caught me motionless in the middle of dark nowhere. Suddenly it dawned upon me that I was lost, that I might die that night. Smoky and murky figures danced behind cocoa trees, hiding when I looked. 

In fear, I clutched the sugar packet close to my chest and ran. Not knowing direction, I ran to escape from the clutches of devils, imps, monsters, smoky, murky figures. My feet told me that I was running on the road. At least that I was running. I ran faster and faster. 

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Later in the night my worried and frightened parents found me lying in the plantation- unconscious and weak. There was sugar all over my body. My new St. George umbrella was lost and was never found. May be, monsters of the dark might still be using it while lurking behind cocoa trees in monsoon. 

Parents carried me home. It was raining hard. Like never before.

An aunt and a crow!

Whenever I go home, there are a few things I make sure I do. Some of them are visiting old Kunjaamma at Neeloor, praying at St. Joseph's Church Neeloor and staying a full day at home. But there are a few more things that I desire to do. One of them is visiting my aunt Eliammachi. 

There are many stories of my childhood that they narrate to me. I was the third child of my mother. And my mother was the eldest of 7 sisters. No other sister was married when I was born. So I was the baby of all those 7 sisters. Imagine how love-rich I was. May be, I was never even put down on the bed if each one wanted to caress me for a while!

'Eliammachi'

Eliammachi was my mother's younger sister. She is an extremely beautiful woman. Lovely woman. She is all love. There is always a smile on her face for me. And a kiss for me when I bid farewell. She has gone through tough times for the last decade. But she has managed to maintain her smile and love through all the hardships.

One story she narrates to me is this. When I was a little baby, she took me to the church once. Since mother's home was on a hilltop, it demanded a lot of mountaineering. Anyway, she carried me down the hill to the church. After church, on the way back, she bought me a bun which i liked. I happily rested on her shoulder, nibbling on the bun I got.

It was sunny and hot and the climb was steep. She opened her umbrella so that I won't be burned in the heat. After a while, when my aunt looked back, she found my bun almost fully eaten. Wondering how the little baby could eat that much, she observed me while walking.

When the story reaches this point, she will stop and break into uncontrollable laughter. It seems, a crow was flying around behind us. It cleverly flew down and pecked on my bun little by little while the little me looked at it eating my bun. I can imagine my own face curiously looking at the crow stealing from my bun. My aunt would top the story saying cutely: "my son, you looked so innocent and calm then; as if you were allowing the crow to have its share".

She would pinch my cheeks saying this. And my eyes would be full of tears of joy and gratitude. Just like it is now... Eliammachi, I love you...