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From slogans I landed up in symbols...que sera sera...
When I was Ishani's age (5+) Father was promoted as HM and posted to a punishment village named Kurichedu. Any new HM who survives there for a year is posted back to the Coromandel Coast at his chosen place.
I recall this village with horror. It was arid, rice didn't grow, there was severe water scarcity, we had to survive on maize, corn, and such exotic cereals. And there was not a single concrete building there. All mud-floor, mud-walls, and bamboo ceilings. And snakes and scorpions that dropped from the ceiling into the sambar and rasam made them tastier.
One Sunday morning Father and his friends with their families hired a couple of double-bullock carts and traveled to a nearby hamlet called 'Potlapadu' on a picnic-cum-pilgrimage...there was an ancient Narasimhaswami Temple there.
The ladies rode the carts, men walked, and kids like us walked partly, got up the shoulders of the menfolk partly like monkeys and jumped on to the cart often. And we reached the place by noon. After a spicy lunch and siesta at the Telugu Pundit's place there, we all walked to the temple which was on a hillock.
And at the entrance of the temple there was a huge big tamarind tree with a sprawling hood and a trunk as wide as four urchins holding their hands in a circle. No one bothered to stop by the tree but I did...I was mesmerized by the figure of a huge serpent-couple entwined to each other (see pic above) etched on the tree trunk.
The ladies rode the carts, men walked, and kids like us walked partly, got up the shoulders of the menfolk partly like monkeys and jumped on to the cart often. And we reached the place by noon. After a spicy lunch and siesta at the Telugu Pundit's place there, we all walked to the temple which was on a hillock.
And at the entrance of the temple there was a huge big tamarind tree with a sprawling hood and a trunk as wide as four urchins holding their hands in a circle. No one bothered to stop by the tree but I did...I was mesmerized by the figure of a huge serpent-couple entwined to each other (see pic above) etched on the tree trunk.
I was scared no end by the ugly figure and stopped talking for the rest of our picnic. Folks asked me why and I didn't respond. I had nightmares that night and for several days then on. But I was too scared to tell my fears to my elders lest they laughed at me. The scary serpent-couple haunted me for years since I couldn't get the symbolism of the damned thing.
All I can say now is that the name of the hamlet, 'Potla Padu', starts with a word that signifies the snake gourd with which my mom cooked delightful dishes. Google tells me that the snake gourd can be grown and painted thus (among other stuff):
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fsTVX6JOL._SX355_.jpg
Scary!
A decade later, when I was 15, I was placed as a non-paying guest in my MD Uncle's place at Vizagh to pursue my studies in the University there.
And as soon as I entered their home, I saw a vast book-case built into the wall with sliding glass doors. After lunch and rest, I peeped at the book shelf and asked my aunt if I could touch the books and she agreed cautiously. Looked like none of the books had been opened...I had to slit open several pages glued together later on.
All the books were English novels with a Concise Oxford Dictionary to go with them. Over the couple of years I stayed there, I thumbed all the books and my favorite was the COD which I devoured literally.
There was this 'Man-Eaters of Kumaon' and I didn't know how to pronounce Kumaon. But it was absorbing and I could make out about 30% of the stories. And a couple of Maugham's tomes which made 20% sense to me. And the prize catch was 'The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes' (I didn't know that the second 'ell' was silent).
I read many stories and the best was the 'Blue Carbuncle', followed by 'The Red-headed League'. But there was this 'Five Orange Pips' which fascinated me:
...Not being married, Elias had allowed his nephew to stay at his estate. Strange incidents have occurred; one is that although John could go anywhere in the house, he could never enter a locked room containing his uncle's trunks. Another peculiarity was that in March 1883 a letter postmarked Pondicherry, in India, arrived for the Colonel inscribed only "K.K.K." with five orange pips enclosed.
More strange things happened: Papers from the locked room were burnt and a will was drawn up leaving the estate to John Openshaw. The Colonel's behaviour became bizarre. He would either lock himself in his room and drink or he would go shouting forth in a drunken sally with a pistol in his hand. On 2 May 1883 he was found dead in a garden pool...
Apparently whoever received the dreaded five orange pips by post would be killed within a week.
And then the 'Treasure Island' which was unreadable because of its nautical jargon but I read it through...so keen was my appetite.
And there is this Black Spot in it that served the purpose of the five orange pips:
The Black Spot is a literary device invented by Robert Louis Stevenson for his novel Treasure Island. In the book, piratesare presented with a "black spot" to officially pronounce a verdict of guilt or judgment. It consists of a circular piece of paper or card, with one side blackened while the other side bears a message and placed in the hand of the accused.[1] It was a source of much fear because it meant the pirate was to be deposed as leader, by force if necessary—or else killed outright. In Treasure Island, Billy Bones is much frightened by it but remains determined to outwit his enemies; however he suffers a stroke caused by the overconsumption of liquor and dies.[2] Later Long John Silver receives the spot, but is calm enough to notice that it has been torn out from a Bible, and warns his associates of the ill luck this will bring upon them.[3]
...Posted by Ishani
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