Home.....

“Wake up! Dolly, wake up” Mummy is thumping at my door.Mmm.... I’m so sleepy.…

“Wake up!U have to go to school”. She yells.

“Everyone is up". Says my grandmother. She is always bright and fresh. I’m sure she has been up for hours .She must have said her prayers and must be organizing something for the day...Some herbal medicine? Some yummy dish?

I admire her as she is a strong person. I have never seen her being dependent on anyone. I like her even more when she wears the clothes I chose for her. I sit there watching her drape saris around her so neatly every time ...and she does have heaps of them! I would pick one with a nice color and she would make sure that she wears it.

I drag myself to get ready for school. The twins are up...They are the youngest..They sleep in the same bed even though they have separate beds. They share everything even though they have separate ones and yes, they often fight for these same things.
They always wake up early, chirping or giggling among themselves and are always ready for school before us. I wonder what they are always so excited about. There always seems to be a secret between them and they will not share with us.

Great! They are arguing about who put some book where last night. God, at least they should use separate books! These two were born just five minutes apart but in every situation one will become the wise, big girl and the other, the crying baby!

“Breakfast is ready”. Mum yells to Renu.This is my other sister, four years younger than me.Renu is the cool and beautiful one and yes, she spends ages getting ready. She always looks preety.I peep into her room. Her makeup is perfect. She’s just finalizing that neat thick long black hair into a bun on her neck.

Oops! I hear her bus rumbling up to our house. Today she wants to go to school by bus. Most likely she wants to get to school early and catch up on homework!!!

Renu grabs her bag and runs out as I hear mum complaining as to how we never take out time to eat. Fortunately, mum is able to pass the lunch parcel to her.

I have thirty more minutes. The water is always cold in the morning. With a deep breath I brave the cold water which really wakes me up! At least I won't sleep in class. English classes do get boring, especially if it's first thing the morning. It’s quicker to bath in the cold water than to heat up the water on the stove.

A quick bite of roti and curry, a cup of sweet black tea that mummy left on the table and I'm ready for school. I lug my school bag to my cousins 4 Wheel Drive.

All the kids are already in and I jump into the front, it’s my spot. We are so grateful for the ride. This has to be our favorite cousin.
He gives us a ride to school every day. He has ever since I started school.
He waits for us to pile in, then endures our playful taunts and teases as he also happens to be our brother-in-law.

We always enjoy the drive to school. On either side of the road are sugarcane farms. The road from our place to the main road is very bumpy long and dusty.

After 10 min we drop off the twins, niece and nephew at their school. The cool breeze hits my face and I smile ….oh wat a beautiful day! It is very nice and cool inside the van but definitely warming up outside. To go with the beautiful morning is the lovely music and soon we are at school.

It’s a sea of green and white. The girls wear white veil and green dress plus white salwar.Boys wear white shirt and green pants.

It is a school of discipline and hard work.
Where rules are hardly broken.
Where teachers are an icon of respect.
Where you get lost in the big world of books until the alarm goes off at 4.00pm.Like a hoard of goats everyone makes for the exit!

Despite being so well behaved we cannot resist the temptation to run down the corridors. And surely, we have to run to get a spot to sit on the bus. I get the window seat and flip open my story book.

It is by Virginia Andrew's -'Flowers in the Attic'. Another one to my collection of her books. I read fast, eager to reach the end. I have to finish before I can begin my homework…Lots of physics and chemistry to do for the weekend.

The bus stops and we get off at my uncle’s shop, 20 minutes from my home. Most kids head to my uncles shop to get some cold treats but Renu and I mainly go there to have a quick play with our adorable little cousin. In this big family of ours he is the only baby.

My two friends who attend another school live across the road. They yell out to me to join me them for a chat .But I walk away, lying that I was running late. I am a bit embarrassed; they must be thinking that I am so boring.

But I really do not want to hear what they have to say. I like to stay out of trouble. Dad will be mad at me for going over to their place after school. I wished to go over but ran away....

Once out of their sight I open my book and start reading, ambling down the road. I stop once in a while to look at Renu and her friend. They are giggling about something, boys? I urge them to hurry up.

I stop at the river to wait for them.

This is my favorite spot. Big rocks are scattered along the river as far as I can see. Clear cool water finds its way among the rocks. Rain trees, many years old, shelters the river making it look serene and cool.

In the rainy season this would be a raging river. On a bad day the bridge would be under water making it impossible for man or vehicle to cross it.

We would then be cut out from the whole world. I love these times as it means no school. It also means a big clean-up as many trees are down and there's debris everywhere. It’s a time of living with candles, having simple meals, bathing in the river and reading story books. In one of those floods, after the hurricane, I had found a white kitten perched on the rocks. Someone had got her down for me and she had become my favorite pet.

I would have time some other day in the afternoon to get my feet wet. I like to walk tip-toe on the rocks and watch the little prawns that one can catch in their palms. The sound of slow trickling water is so soothing....Since the water is so shallow one can see them as they swim or run to hide.

Someone comes along the road. It’s my dad’s friend with a cow and calf. We exchange greetings and I get going again…… till I get to the guava trees.Ahh guavas! So sweet and orange on the side of the road, I can’t resist it...I leave my bag and book near the road and climb the slope to the trees. I can see the neighbor’s front yard. It’s their land but I’m sure they will not mind.

Not like that grumpy old man who got mad at my brother for taking sugar cane. I saw him get upset and had run all the way home to tell everyone that he was going to kill brother. Later I found out he just got a scold .That evening my brother told me that nobody gets killed for stealing sugar cane.

I pick up enough for the 3 of us and get on my way to home. I see my friends mum and say hi to her. She is working in her flower gardens.

Finally we get home.

Mummy goes “how come other kids get home so early?" We don’t reply. We treat most of mum’s questions as rhetorical. We know all her questions by heart...she would say the same ones, same way at the same events. Dad’s questions are the ones you wish will never come. If it does, you are so much in trouble!

Mummy comes from a much disciplined family. Her family had strict rules, especially for the girls. They believed a girl had to mingle less with others, cook well and have only minimal schooling.
So our poor mum spends most of her time trying to discipline us 4 girls.

We always have plenty warm black tea ready for my grandfather. Lots of it, as he likes to have tea all the time. I leave my bag and book in my room and take a cup of tea and some munchies.
I sit on the floor because the tiles are cool to touch, prop my book on the pillow, put the munchies on the bed and tea on the floor - and I’m lost in my book again. Munching as fast as I’m reading because I threw my lunch away and now I’m hungry.

Mummy is yelling out to me to go and do the dishes.

“I’m coming” I yell back. Two minutes later grandma calls out to me to read out something for her. I let her know that I was coming to see her and continue to read....

I’m surprised to see them both, at my door obviously angry! Grandma again reminds me not to sit on the floor and that I should listen to her when she says that I should not sit twisted like that………

Then mum complains that I should help her more and how I’m always reading and my eyes will go bad someday and how I need to learn to cook so that when I get married my in-laws will not think bad of my family……..

Dear me, looks like these two have been waiting for me all day!
One is on the floor the other is sitting on my bed. Grandma offers me more tea but mum thinks I should get up and do some work.

To break the ice, I tell them what had happened at school and then we all have a giggle.

Shabs had brought a cute little toy mouse to class. She was renowned for bringing in new stuff. Students at the back seemed to be passing it around and giggling etc.Me, the good girl was in the front paying attention to the teacher, curious as to what was going on at the back.Suddendly the mouse was handed to me.

It looked pretty ordinary in my hands...Pink and fluffy.
Mukki, the cheeky one gestures me something.I think he’s asking me to squeeze it....ok, I do it.
And the mouse lets out a loud squeak squeak! I jump in my seat as it was very loud for the silent room .I could see Mukkis face, red and tearful with laughter and the teacher was glaring at me …I was so in trouble.

At least the mouse story helped get mummy and grandma off my back.
Like any typical afternoon we sisters share housework. I do the dishes as the twins tidy up. Grandpa comes up for his 100th cup of tea; I’m sure and asks about school. I notice the twins have disappeared into the house. Smart girls! I have to entertain grandpa alone, I guess.

Grandpa loves our school as he was on the committee when it was made. I give him an account of the teachers who were there and who had left, same as I do most days.

Today he says something special:
He tells me that he wants me to be a teacher. He tells me that he will come with me and cook for me when I go away to study at the uni in the capital. He also tells me that I can marry any guy from any town but that I had to bring him over here so I could live here, at home with my family.

What he believed was that someone had to stay home once my brother went to USA.I didn’t think about it twice then but I didn’t know that years later when he is dead I would miss him and his words.

Grandpa needs a hand so we stroll down to the garden near the well. I help him pull the hose so he can water the garden. Before, he used to plant heaps of crops .Now that he is a bit older he sticks to simple ones. His favorite is corn and tomatoes. On a good day like this, he would make a little fire with twigs and grasses and throw 2 corns to cook them and yummy…. he would smoke and I would enjoy the half burnt but well cooked corn.

Next task is to feed the chickens while the twins help grandpa herd the 3 goats into the enclosure. We have heaps of spare land so their enclosure is actually a big piece of lush green piece of land overlooking the hills. A lovely spot for them to them to rest in.

I hate to feed the chickens. Firstly because my two cousins who live next door will tease me. They love to laugh at me as I chase the chooks or as I call out to them to gather, to eat.
Secondly the chickens annoy me with all the noises. They jump around me, pecking at my feet nearly making me fall over....Always impatient to see what I have for them.

It is supposed to be Renu jobs now. I did it when I was younger. Now I’m older she has to do it but today she is helping grandma pick mangoes from a tree. She is always climbing trees and is not scared of it.

Before, I always loved to sit on the highest branch. From where no one could see me. Going up was always thrilling and I was always able to find a ripe yummy mango at this height.Once, coming down the tree I lost my footing. I was lucky not to fall. It left me shaking and weak in the knees. No one knows of this incident but since that day I haven't climbed a tree more than 2m high.

I'm sure later today Renu and I can have some mangoes with chilly and salt. Yummy!

I really wish to go away to uni and then get a job…Then I will not have to do these boring tasks. I plan to get hired help to help us at home.
Impatient one that I am, I do not like the long wait.

A Quick shower then I goes on my tummy with my book again. Dad and next door cousin are home and a game of volley ball is going on. The twins have joined in and my grandparents are on the chairs on the front porch watching as well. Mummy is on the bench under the mango tree and my cousin is calling out to me.

Alright, I will have to go join the game. He’s our favorite cousin as he always gives us a ride to school, plus he will do our photocopy jobs at his work so I can't say no this time.

It’s a big happy family with our homes so close and our lives so linked. My cousins have lived next door all my life and I love them dearly. They are like the older brother and sister to me.

I have no knack for sports and I am just waiting to get back to my book. I am not very good at volley ball but better than at soccer!

Sometimes I have to be the goalie when the men play soccer at home and I dread the ball coming my way. IF I miss the ball then I am in trouble. It’s always better being the goalie for dad’s team as you won't be bullied for missing the ball.

An hour later darkness falls and we all go in hot and sweaty.
Dinner is always a family affair. Dinnertime we always talk so much, I have no idea what about. Mostly something grandpa starts and he does love to talk!

Dad would keep quiet till grandpa has left for his room then he would begin his account of the day.

Since no one has been naughty today, we have a great time.
After dinner I escape to my book again.

An hour later and still many pages to go my brother get home. He is studying and working part-time at my uncle's office.
My uncle (my dad’s brother) thinks of us as his own children. We are blessed to have the love of so many people. And since my brother is the only son and the eldest, everyone loves to spoil him. He is only one year older than me so we are very close.

He walks into my room and props up on my pillow beside me, tossing my book away. In the next half hour he told me so many things about his friend’s etc etc.And he never listens to anything I have to say!!!!

When I was in Grade one I often lost my bus fare. Brother would then get me on the bus and walk all the way to home.Once; I had left my bag on the bus and had cried a river for it. He ran after the bus and got my bag for me. But he never seemed to mind. What he did mind was when I tagged along when he was with his friends.
Sorry yar, I was just a needy little sis then and I'm surely making up for it now.
Lucky mum offered him dinner. We always tease mum, saying that she saves the best for him.
She loves to spoil him and he loves all this attention.

It’s nearly midnight when I finally finish my book. Great story!

Saturday morning, we wake up early...the roosters are very noisy, the birds are chirping but it is still a bit dark.

Dad has asked us girls to help him on the farm as today is sugarcane planting day for us.Renu,as usual is asleep and no one tries to wake her. It would be just like wasting your time!
She seems to live by her own rules and she really gets upset when I play big sister. I have learned to treat her as if she is the same age as me.

The twins declined but I was happy to go along with my brother. What better way to escape the housework and mums cooking lessons!!!

Our village is set at the foot of the hills. Surrounding us is the sea. As I sit on a rock in the farm waiting for dad, I can't help but think that this must the most beautiful site. Big green pine tree covered mountains are at our back, along the gentle slopes are the homes and stretches of sugarcane farms .Snaking through them are rivers and right at the bottom is the blue sea. One can make out faint traces of a few islands in the distance.

It is time to work. One other lady and two men have come to help. So did mummy. My task is to help brother put in the seeds. The rows are long and going uphill. Everybody works quietly until tea time.

Ah, time to eat.

Dad tells us some made up story. When we were small we used to believe it, horrified, waiting for it to be continued but now we listened for the fun of it.

It is a long day at the fields today. I do not want to go home yet. I love to help dad since there is always so much to do and it is not boring like housework, plus there are few rules in the farm away from mummy.
And I can enjoy the unspoilt nature here in the mountains.

I wait till all work is done. The sun is setting so dad, brother and I stroll 10 mines down the hill to home, clean up, eat and crawl into bed.Oh, what an exhausting day.

Sunday is quiet, everyone seems to be asleep. I wake up to the noise of chooks noisily digging in the soil in my window garden. The sun is streaming through the windows. It’s quite warm already.

My cat ‘Gavin’ is asleep at the foot of my bed. I gently push her away to encourage her to stay out of my bed but as usual she hops back in, even closer.
I day dream of life and what it's going to be. I know exactly what I want it to be. I guess everyone does. I think of the future and all the rosy things I want for myself and my loved ones.

This is my favorite pastime apart from reading. Mummy and brother do get very angry when they realize that I'm lost in my own world. They say that I don’t pay much attention to what is being said.

My favorite daydream is where I take a walk through a vast garden with shallow, slow flowing river winding its way through rocks and trees....and then I see this mysterious handsome guy across the river. From here there's no knowing where my mind takes me.

It's a different journey every day we meet.
I wish I knew better. That to daydream is missing on the present and when you wake up it will be too late.

Today is indeed a quite day. Good for catching up on schoolwork, a movie, maybe go for a walk and visit our cousins.
Dad has been up long. I join him under the mango tree with my cup of tea.

“Tea for me?”Says dad.

Oh great, I can't even have my tea in peace. We finally share that cup. We chat about school. We talk about uni and my teachers. Dad is very keen to have me top in the exams. He does not like a second place for me.

This term I came 2nd, beaten by my friend which is okay since I came first last term. But for dad it seemed like a big defeat. My friend happens to be a family friend as well as a boy, so my dad is not happy at all.

I can feel he is cautious of my friendships but he never says anything. It seems he is more ambitious then me. I get another lecture on how I should not trust people, how someone can fool me or use me in the name of friendship.
I do not agree with him but I do not argue as I know he is being protective and oh, I love him so much I never seem to mind anything he says.

At the end of his speech he lets me know that I am not allowed to get together with this friend or any friends to study for exams as planned....Now my friends will think I am so boring. Studying all alone again....

Dad is very strict and can be grumpy but he has to be the best dad. We all love him. And I believe I love him the most. More than I love any other person in this universe.

He is a great friend, a great story teller and I'm his pet. The best thing about him is that he is very flexible. He gives us freedom. More than is given to most kids. Being the naughty trouble maker himself he does not believe in unnecessary rules.

When we were very little, my brother and I would sit under the trees and wait for him to finish work. Then we would have lunch watching the sea all around us, listening to another made up story of dad’s. Most days he would plait my hair, lots of plaits for what, I can't remember. Or tie a 'coconut tree' as I called it then-a little pony tail on the top of my head.

Dad is on the phone, so I better run away to my room before I get any more rules laid out for me ....