Memories Of Childhood
With all this pampering from everyone and always being appreciated I was very confident in myself. This self-confidence gave me an attitude about my skills and abilities. I had trust in myself and a sense of control over my life. That’s why I had a mind of my own since my childhood. I expressed my own views on what was put before me. With a little bit of high temperament, I did what I liked.
I was very good at studies and girls from my own class came to me in the evening, to get their homework done with my help. Maybe that was one of the reasons I thought very highly about myself. I studied smarter not longer. That’s why I had plenty of time on my hand to do other things. Even today, I prefer to manage my time very smartly so that I could manage all my work in time, without leaving anything pending.
We didn’t have any maids back then in the 70s and I helped my mother in the kitchen when I was mature enough to handle kitchen gadgets. I used to clean the room in the evenings and kept everything neat and clean in that small home. In cooking also I helped my mom and when my family liked what I cooked, I was so happy that I fed them all of the food without saving some food for me.
There are so many memories from my childhood, that I am trying to recall today while writing about those days. We didn’t have water coolers so we used to put chicks on the door which were called (khus curtains). Khus curtains were quite common in those days to maintain a cool ambiance inside the home. We used to sprinkle water on it and when air blew through the curtain, people inside the room used to feel cool vibes all around. This was used in the afternoons particularly to take some respite from the heat outside.
The Hindi word for the vendor is ‘wallah’, which is attached to the name of the item being sold; e.g., kebadiwallah, paan wallah, etc. Most ‘wallahs’ are men. In that heat, there were vendors outside in our streets, who always tried to sell their Jaljeera, Jamun, and False(berries). These guys had their own song and we waited for them to come and sing that song so that we could buy what we wanted to eat. On hearing their voice me and my brother ran towards the door after taking coins from our mom. False wallah called us by his song…’Kale kale false, bade raseele false, sharbat wale false.’ He put some kind of masala on it, tossed it, and gave it to us for just 10 paisa coins each serving. ‘Ganne ka ras’(sugarcane juice) was also our favorite.
There were more vendors like this who tried calling children by their melodious songs. One ice cream wallah was also there who used to come in the afternoons and with a strong voice called ice cream mmmm like he was trying to call ice cream not us.
Then a chat wallah was very famous in our locality for his ‘chapati chat and gol gappas’(water balls). Where can we find these vendors now? All those things were delicacies for us. Sometimes in the evening I and my brother went to the shop at the corner of our street and had a bottle of coca-cola, which was shared by us. It came for 25 paise at that time but it was costly for us. So we shared it and were happy to do so. That meant a treat for us.
To be continued…
Anita's Perspectives on Life. 
Gone through your short story#3
Same to Same for me.
All wallas were there in my time too.
I am 1958 born.
During 70s, these wallas were very famous for children and elders too.
My mom used to get her items right at home because my dad used to get time only on Sunday, being holiday.
Even saree Walla, Kashmiri shwal Walla , all were there at that time.
Now they are not there. Very few vegetable vendors are there now.
You have described in such a way that I myself went back to my time.
Regarding studies, my points are same as yours.
I was very good in mathematics. So i used to help my class mates on maths and physics too.
I didn’t like chemistry.
You are right, spending long hours in study may not bring desired results. But mindful study will bring.
And teaching the subject will do havoc.
Your posts are very lively.
Great 😃👍
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences.
Have a great time ahead 😊🙏
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😊😊 Yes, Arun Ji this seems the same, as those times were the same in India everywhere. Even in the 1990s and after that also in Delhi, these Kashmiri suits and shawl wallahs were seen roaming around and bargaining the price. Vegetable vendors can be seen there even today. But false, ganne ka ras or chat pakodi wallahs have vanished. 😊 I am actually surprised to read it, even I was very good at physics. When in 9th class we have to choose a subject, I chose science. My mathematics and physics were very good, but I got very few marks in chemistry and changed my subjects in the 10nth class to Commerce stream. Since then I hate chemistry.😊😊
These childhood memories bring a smile to my face and I relive those times.
Thanks a lot.😊😊🙏🙏
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For you and me, chemistry was not a very good subject.
However Chemistry is very important.
Chemistry is the bridge between physics and biology.
I opted for mathematics honours in my graduation with physics and chemistry as general subjects. Chemistry was found to be very interesting, particularly physical chemistry.
After retirement, I started studying Quantum physics and quantum biology. By chance i got scope to do few basic and advanced course on quantum physics and other topics of physics which helped me in understanding Vedanta Darshan.
You opted for commerce and that is very important for carrier oriented growth. Finally we are free from pressure of studies of those days.
Let us enjoy our rest of the life as we are doing.
Reading, Writing and sharing views.
Happy to be connected with you.
Thank you so much for your comments.
Best wishes and regards 😊🙏
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Yeah, I was always into accounts and calculations and somehow I am very good at remembering numbers.😊 So it was by chance or by luck, I am still doing that and hope to do so in the future also apart from reading and writing. Thanks for connecting. 😊😊
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Great to be connected with you 😌
Regards 🙏
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As a kid in the 90s and early 2000s, Indian food was not as widespread in my area of the US as in the UK. My parents being from India would drive long distances, even 2 hours to New York City, to eat at an Indian restaurant. Most people I know, especially my classmates, had no idea what is Indian cuisine.
Funny story, back in elementary school my classmates asked me if we eat monkey brains since that was what the thuggees ate in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” Sure it was ignorant and in poor taste, but I still find it funny.
Later on, especially around 2005 or 2006, I would have Americans of different ethnic backgrounds tell me they love dishes like saag paneer, naan, and samosas. There are even those who love eating dosas. That’s also when Indian restaurants became a lot more common. Due to the rising popularity of Indian food, my parents now drive 15 minutes to get takeout if they don’t feel like cooking. Speaking for myself, I loves samosas and always had them since I was kid. However, I never had a samosa chat until 2009 when it was introduced at this local restaurant.
So there are my memories of Indian food in the United States.
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You are right…I don’t know your name😊 After 2000 life changed very fast everywhere. Before that, it was the same from the late sixties till 2000. We as Indians like our local food very much and can travel any distance to get that. Being a Punjabi I like Punjabi food and south Indians and Bengalis like their food. Today we can get every cuisine in the US, we just have to gather information from where we can get it.
Dosa is a South Indian dish that is my favorite since my college days.😊 😊
As you said samosa is liked by everyone in India. Its combination with jalebi( it’s a sweet round thing) is always welcomed by people here.😊
I hope someday you will visit India and relish Indian dishes which you cannot find in The US. I like the US very much. I have traveled to the US many times and the best thing I like about the US is its road trips. The Autumn season especially is very beautiful.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting on my site. Please keep reading and sharing your views.🙏🏻😊
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I keep my name a secret for safety. I don’t want to get fired because I write about what I don’t like about my job or about labor problems in general.
But yes, one of these days I would like to visit India again. It’s been too long.
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Lol. That’s fine hetero 😊 You are welcome when ever you feel like coming to India.
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thank your blog ha
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I enjoyed this look into your past. Many thanks to you for the follow.
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Thank you so much for liking the post and commenting. 😊😁
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🤗💗
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