Boy in the 80s in Orissa

I have vivid memories of my life from the age of three. As vivid it is so is it gloomy vividly. Yet the stories of my life were extraordinarily exciting. I do not remember what concepts were being taught at home but at nursery school I was bewildered at the variety of humans around me. Boys were already boys and girls were kind of a new world. I remember what was packed for lunch and what went on at home for every lunch box to be packed. Dad got one and my two other elder siblings got theirs. Each had their own boxes and I remember the shape of each one of them.

My books would go into an aluminum box. And then a man would come on cycle, three of kids would be loaded - one on the front bar, the others on the carrier behind. Off we would go about 6 kms from home. When the shoes went between the spokes we would remember our parental advice and silently continue our journey more carefully. I do not remember saying thanks or talking much with the guy who dropped us. In India we are not taught such things, beside, he would be in a rush as well. He would have the next set of children to bring or go for work.

I remember observing others more than talking myself. Probably I was learning new languages apart from Malayalam that I spoke at home or the Oriya that I learnt from my neighbors. However, I don't remember having difficulty in comprehending the teachers speaking in English nor my friends who would speak in Hindi. I do not know how I learnt all the languages but I seemed to be comfortable even in my nursery. Though, I would always wonder why I did not have much topics to discuss. I always felt the need to talk more but I never did. However, language never bothered, it was fun.

Then came a promotion. I was not a good at getting grades. My report cards always have red marks in them. I believe my promotion came with a few reds and advises to improve. I had new company in the new class. I noticed that some of them spoke my mother tongue. Some would smell in the morning and I probably came in clean uniform everyday. I was happy that Pinky was in class. I had also got a new pencil box which looked like a large chocolate bar. The very next thing that happened was the whole class was to be punished. When the cane started descending on my had I pulled it away and it fell on my pencil box. I am not sure if I cried but I was very upset. The teacher noticed it and came back with a new one for me the next day. I surely appreciated the teacher for her gesture and I surely learnt some goods lessons in life.

The next thing I know is that I had to change school. I felt in me that I would never ever see Pinky again. The new school was the best in town. Was much bigger and grander and I would now be travelling on bus to school. Again boys were boys here and girls no longer occurred as it was a boys only school. I don't think that bothered me much, there were enough things to worry about and life was just opening up before my eyes. There were bullies who got scared of my big brother when they learnt of his presence in school.

My sister was also there in a nearby girls only school. We would alight our school buses from the same bus stop. My sister had her school bus and me and my brother had another for ours. I remember getting commented on my dirty knees and neck. From that day onward I started paying attention on scrubbing while bathing. There were games played en-way to school, sometimes it was a game on country names and at times on people and songs. I was not much intelligent in such affairs but still enjoyed the moments.

Once on the bus a best friend of mine who was probably on a new path of discovery on personal hygiene asked me what I had applied on my hands as winter skin protection. My mention of oil didn't match up to his use of vaseline. He looked down upon me as an inferior being. I was happy with the olive oil rub I would get at home - even today I would not mind using it, but back then I saw a friendship drifting into separation. It felt bad but he was moving into a world of his own. At a later date at home he mentioned that the pillows we had are much harder than the once at his home. That was the last time he sat with me as a friend. I never heard from him again. I miss him as a good friend I had in the earlier years of my life. It never made sense to me that a guy could take such things serious enough to move on from a friendship. I never felt any other tension between us.

Now apart from school and home there was another regular activity in life. The five of us in our family had one scooter to travel. We did travel all together on one scooter quite often but then on Sundays we would walk to church. We had about 5 Km to walk, but that never seemed to be a problem. I enjoyed the walks. I enjoyed...

Indian Railways and Two missing ladies

We were expecting two ladies to arrive at Kottayam Station today. These ladies were to arrive from Pune through an agency that helps people in getting household helps. We were told that the Ladies have got on to the S6 compartment on berth number 41 and 42. They were arriving at 5:25 and so we started from home at 4:30 in the morning to pick them up from the station. 

The train was late by about 45 minutes, so we spent time drinking coffee from our flask, reading a news paper and talking to people at the help desks. At the first desk I inquired if they could tell me the coach position. The led displays were not working at that time. The man at the counter was a policeman and hence I didn't not think he would know - yet I took my chances as his kiosk only mentioned help desk. He instructed me to check at the information counter. 

The information counter was closed. However there was another kiosk with another policeman. All I wanted was information so I rephrased my question. "Would you be able to tell me the position of S6", I asked. Well he told me that he could tell me the position of the train that leaves but not of the one that arrives. I was happy to have whatever was available. To my surprise he had a chart to refer and he told me that it could be at display number 8. I had no choice but be there. 

Thankfully when the train arrived coach S6 did stop at display 8. I went and asked for 'Souiya Maiti'. There was nobody by that name. There was only one lady and by her looks she was a Malayali for sure. I was expecting to see Bengali face. To my dismay they were not in the coach. They could have been moved to a different coach as may happen in India or they might have got down at the wrong station. They were presumably illiterate and might have found it hard to communicate. 

I came out of the coach looked into the adjacent coaches and by that time the train left. I ran through the entire station to check if I could spot a couple of worried eyes looking for me. I was just left with mine own to be troubled with. I went back to the helpful help desk Kiosk. This time he asked me to check with the Inquiry Desk. This being at the entrance of the station I ran towards it. I asked them if they could let me know if 'Souiya Maiti' and her companion boarded the train. The lady at the counter told me she couldn't. 

She gave me a number 9846200100 to contact to get more information. When the phone was answered the man at the other end asked me to check with the station information desk. When I told him that I got his number from them he told me that they wouldn't be able to tell until the train arrives at Trivandrum it's final destination. I told them that they could check with the TT and help me out. However, they told me that the TT could not be contacted until he arrives at his final duty station. He dind't sound helpful, however, he took my contact details and told me that I would be contacted if there was any information. 

I came back to the platform and went straight to the station master. On being told that people were supposedly missing from the train. He told me that he could do nothing. I asked him if he could find out for me if the missing passengers alighted the train. The station master responded by asking a question. "How do you think I would know that?" I maintained my clam and told him that he could check with the TT. "How would the TT know?", he retorted. At this I made a stern face and told him that that was the 'TT' job - to make sure that people who have booked have boarded the train. The station master realised his mistake and told me that he can be contacted only when he reaches Trivandrum. I persisted and asked him if he could refer to the reservation chart and tell me if anybody by the name 'Souiya Maiti' was travelling. He bluntly told me that he could not do that. I saw no point in arguing with somebody not willing to help. 

I decided to run over the platform once again to try my luck to spot the ladies. All this while (and even until now about 12 hours from the schedules arrival of the train), we had been unable to contact the agent who had confirmed to us that the ladies had boarded the train. Walking on the platform I saw the office of the RPF (railway police force). I decided to go there as my next hope in getting help for finding the ladies. However, I decided to finish off going to the end of the platform and then return to the RPF. 

Unlucky with my search as I ventured to enter the RPF office I saw a policeman in half uniform and half civil dress. I decided to talk to him. To my pleasant surprise as I explained, the policeman had already got the news and he told me that they are already looking for the ladies at Kollam station and elsewhere. Many non-Keralite travelers according to them confuse Kollam for Kottayam. Whatever, it was finally pleasant to learn that the government machinery is helping me out. 

I was with my Mom at the station. She's old and must return home for rest. I abandon my search and head homewards with Mom. The agent still remains at large, his phone either remains busy or is switched off. The railway search team reported that no such individuals as reported by me could be traced. Hope there were no real ladies travelling and nobody is at risk. It's dark now and I hope to have a pleasant days tomorrow. Hopefully, the agent will tell us that he had made up a story.