Don't know if its the right way to say but I have to admit that I had a childhood filled in with some interesting incidents as those years passed by. My Dad is the eldest son in the family and he has 3 elder sisters. He also has 2 younger brothers. So, when I was born, I was the first in the next generation of the Naik family.
Naturally, being the first member of the new generation has its advantages as I found out. Everyone was so happy and that translated into some amount of pampering.
Although my parents made sure that it doesn’t get to my head by disciplining me from the right age, as I reflect back and wonder how beneficial was their decision at that point in time.
Being the eldest one in the new generation of our family also has its responsibilities and I wouldn’t call them as disadvantages or pain points, but it is more like you have to keep that extra caution to be followed whenever you speak or act in a situation.
Getting back to my childhood, in the early years of my nursery, kindergarten and primary school, we had a joint family system in place. So, it was always a filled up environment with plenty of hustle bustle going on in the house. Birthdays, weekends, occasions, religious ceremonies, etc were all organized at our home, as it was located right in the middle of the city and was convenient for everyone else to travel and reach there. So, from childhood days itself, I was used to seeing lots of family members around, interacting with each other and coming together to celebrate each occasion.
Regarding the building that I stayed in, I’ve to admit it that it is the best possible place that I could have been living in. The entire shape and structure of the building was such that interaction with friends, neighbours, etc had become kind of a norm. Also, we had 2 playgrounds within the area of the building where all friends used to gather to play many different sports – cricket, football and only the big boys in those days used to play volleyball. The smaller kids like us had to be content with playing cricket and football. But it was still fun.
Few highlights of the year where all friends used to gather and celebrate were birthdays, New Year Eve, festivals like Holi, Kite flying, Diwali, Dahi Handi and the main event of course has to be Ganesh Chaturthi.
Birthdays in those times were typical – we used to contribute some amount (those days, it was Rs 5 or Rs 10 maximum which was enough) for the birthday boy / girl, few of us went to the nearby gift shops to buy the birthday gift and a big sized chocolate, all of us then used to dress up neatly and go to the birthday boy’s / girl’s house, the typical menu was potato chips, birthday cake, samosas or potato vadas, small chocolates like Melody or Eclairs and farsan or chivda. Before feasting on this, we used to sing the Happy Birthday song and clap, the birthday boy / girl cuts the cake, the photo session starts with a Kodak camera in those days having the standard 36 photo roll and then the fun with either some song being played on the Audio Cassette Player. No CDs or DVDs in those days dude, forget mp3.
New Year party was similar to the birthday celebrations except that an additional feature was a Quiz that was being conducted by your truly as the Quiz master. I was the brightest kid in the entire building when it came to General Knowledge and Quizzes. Well, the brightest category can be applied to some other areas too. But I won’t disclose them right away. Wait and watch as the suspense unfolds.
Holi was celebrated early in the morning with all friends already having brought new pichkaris and colours, water balloons, etc in order to be equipped for the so-called warfare among boys and girls on Holi (Rang Panchami). Diwali celebration was mainly firecrackers as we shopped each year at the famous Essabhai Fireworks Shop at Bhendi Bazar (Masjid Bunder in Mumbai). Early morning shopping at 7 am for firecrackers is one of the strange things I’ve done in Mumbai. Also, carrying the entire big box on my lap as I used to sit on the backseat on the scooter for around 30 minutes as Dad drove back home. Such memories will always be cherished whenever I look back…what all we used to do for celebrating.
Well, I can go on and on about the occasions in my building but I feel that will take a new post itself. So, I’m cutting short about it now.
As for my studies, I was doing well and scoring good marks in those days. Mom never had to worry about my studies, according to what she said in the past, what she says still in the present.
The best school in the world, Don Bosco High School, was where I did my schooling for 12 years including kindergarten. Studying into a boys’ school had its pros and cons…hope u got my point here itself and I am glad that I need not elaborate further on it. But even though this entire experience made me shy when taking with girls of my age, I was comfortable talking and interacting with my cousin sisters. Obvious, as they used to visit our home every weekend and stay during their vacations.
I never opted to become the class monitor (CR kinda position in those days) as the person should wear tie in school and I was not knowing how to wear a tie. So, I used to avoid from being a monitor in class.
I had a crush on one school teacher and it was so silly when I look back now at it. Those days, I used to help her out in her work whenever she asked. In her class, I used to answer the subject questions she asked. Organizing certain debates and elocutions was what I was looking forward to, since these events involved her.
My school is the best because in those years, it was a rare thing for a school to ban homework for students. Plus, they promoted all-round development of kids - not just studies but sports, debates, elocutions, social work, etc.
Then, in those days, we used to carry bicycles when we were promoted to 8th standard. During the lunch break, we used to visit the 2 nearby girls' schools and do some bird watching, waving to the girls as we used to sit on our cycles and flaunt the fact that we own bicycles which was pretty much impressive in those days. Then, the security guards for the girls' schools used to chase us and we had to escape from there. But we never admitted defeat and we repeated this adventure again and again. Finally, during the vacations, these girls used to visit the nearby gardens and then we used to play cricket there so that they can notice us and talk to us. Attempts were successful and some of us got the fruits of patience in those days.
Now for some serious stuff. I had few trysts with the Hospitals in my childhood. First was a hernia operation when I was an infant, second was a neck operation when I was in the 4th standard and finally was an unfortunate accident when I was in the 7th standard. The accident on July 5, 1995 changed my life. I was coming back from school, walking down a busy road. Suddenly, a taxi (cab) came from behind at a crossing and the driver tried to turn quickly to the left. I was unaware that this guy was coming from behind as he didn’t even honk. He hit my right leg and I collapsed on the road. People rushed in and tried to make me stand on my feet. But I could see my leg broken and it was a fracture. The pain was unbearable and I could not even stand up properly. I could see the bone that came out due to the hit. After a nervous and panic filled 2 hours, I was operated upon and when I came back to my senses, I already had a plaster around my right leg and it was night time. I felt so weird and miserable that tears rolled down my eyes as I saw my family in front, all looking at me. I was confined to bed rest for the next 6 months and after a period of almost 7-8 months, I was back to normal. But the accident caused a lot of frustration and trauma for me. I still remember each minute of that incident even though it has been 14 years since that ill-fated day.
Enough of the sad part for now.
Well, to sum up, I had a very nice childhood and I must say that I’m indeed very lucky to have got such wonderful and loving parents and family members.
Pichle janam mein zaroor kuch punya kiya hoga maine, jo aise log mile.
Concluding the post now. Gathering all my thoughts together and that too for the childhood times isn’t easy as I’ve found out now. If you feel that I’ve missed out on anything pertaining to childhood in this post, kindly provide your feedback and I’ll make sure I cover it.
Signing off now. See ya, folks!
