OLDEN DAYS ARE GOLDEN DAYS!
Olden days are really golden days! We would never be able to forget those pleasant days, but of course, we would have tasted some amount of bitter experiences also!
In my young age, I was very much isolated, remained alone, and I didn’t talk too much with strangers, and of course, with my relatives too! I used to get afraid of even for little, little things also, and for overcoming that, I used to call my parents, and they used to console me during those situations. Sometimes due to my innocent behaviour I have got some amount of scolding and even some slaps also from my teachers! Once one teacher asked me to get a Samosa for her, and also gave me some money. But that money was grabbed by my class student, and for that money he bought some snacks for him. When the teacher has asked me, I told about it. She got very much tensed and slapped me like anything!
In course of time, due to the grace of the god, I have become a normal person, and began to move in this difficult world freely, but of course, only with a little bit of agony on my mind!
I hereby quote some of the incidents which was happened in my life, and of course, these will provide a sort of entertainment to the readers.
INCIDENT NO.1
I studied in a Christian school till the fifth grade and used to attend the Friday prayers in the big hall of that school. The name of that wonderful Christian lady who had led the prayers was Susheela, she used to play the hand piano, which was a popular instrument in those days, and she was affectionately called as “Susheela Aunty” by the school staff and students.
The Friday prayer which she has conducted, was called as “Aunty Prayer”, and she used to come to the Ayanavaram school from Tambaram at 11 am on Fridays, and would tell the good news and tell the real events in the life of Jesus Christ. The students would forget their worries by listening to her divine Christian discourses, and through her melodious songs, she added more sweetness to her wonderful spiritual performances, and because of that, I also got good marks in the subject called ‘SCRIPTURES’, which talks about the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Susheela aunty is very pretty and she puts perfumes on her body to make her look more attractive and wears beautiful clothes! When she takes lectures, I keep looking at her face without blinking, and sometimes she notices me and asks me the reason! But of course, I had never revealed it, because I kept it as a secret, but now I’m revealing it because I consider her as a ‘holy angel’!
What I saw in her was: gentle nature, love, kindness, good manners, and many, many! She would lovingly say to us, ‘Oh my dear sons/daughters, I love you very much, and you are all loved by the Almighty God for patiently listening to my divine discourses.’
In course of time, our dear Susheela aunty stopped coming to our school and then we finally came to know the reason for it, since she was married to a nice young Christian gentleman whose name was Joseph, and she became a ‘wonderful housewife’ after marriage. We were all very much worried about her absence, but we consoled ourselves for it, since our ‘very best madam’ had settled well into her life and that was enough for us!
Even now, whenever I listen to Christian songs, I would recall the sweet memories which I shared with my beloved ‘Susheela madam’ and of course I would even call her as my ‘Dear beautiful mother’.
Now though I have passed my 50th age, yet I am reminiscent of her and I still think that my beloved ‘Susheela aunty’ will be alive somewhere and will be living her life happily, peacefully and enthusiastically with her husband, children, grandchildren/and great grandchildren.
For me, the memories shared with sweet ones will always be fresh in our memory, and those sweet memories, still my last breath, will remain in my soul!
INCIDENT NO.2
Swamy Mess, also known as Raghavendra Swamy Mess, was one of the popular messes in the 1980s, operating near the famous Parthasarathy Temple in Triplicane. In that mess, tiffin and lunch items were served in a good quality manner. Hot Idli, vada, pongal and degree coffee were available every morning, and that quality coffee of the day was similar to Kumbakonam Degree Coffee. The café was run by a Madhwa Brahmin couple, and those days, in that Mess, we could see a large picture of Guru Raghavendra Swamy!
The price of tiffin and lunch was too low that even if someone did not pay the bill after eating the food items, the owner Sri Raghavendra Rao, who never got angry with them, but would gently inquire about their whereabouts and if he found out that the person was really poor, he would give him a job in his hotel itself! He was a gentle person with a kind heart like our great guru Sri Raghavendra Swami.
I am telling you this incident because in the 1980s, when I went to have breakfast at a hotel in Triplicane (which is no longer there), a man who had breakfast did not pay the bill and got a good beating from the hotel attendants for it, after which he was thrown out of the hotel!
Lunch included vada, payasam, papad and nutritious meals were served, and, on Thursdays, onions and garlic were not added to the meal! I could often listen to beautiful songs about Guru Raghavendra from the Kannada devotional songs sung by the famous actor Sri Rajkumar on a tape recorder, which was a delicious treat for my ears.
As for the children, they were given free milk as a token of kindness. If anyone had any doubts about going to Mantralaya, the owner, Sri Raghavendra Rao, would explain the Mantralayam in detail and in fact even make some pilgrimages to Mantralayam in those days.
When I visited this place in 2023, I could not find the magnificent “Swamy Mess”, but in that place, I could only find a small textile shop run by a North Indian! When I enquired about the existence of Swami Mess, he said sternly, “I don’t know sir, please go out, customers will come in large numbers, please leave”. But I couldn’t believe that customers would come to the store in large numbers!
Right now, though I am not able to find Sri Raghavendra Rao and his family, I firmly believe that they will live their lives peacefully somewhere with the perfect grace of Guru Raghavendra Swami.
INCIDENT NO.3
Buy cotton candy (PANJU MITTAI), buy it now, since it’s very tasty. ‘the wonderful tasty cotton candies now!
This was the slogan raised by a cotton candy seller on Ujjain Street in Ayanavaram in the late 1970s, where I lived there. I was a boy then! Salim would be surrounded by boys who would eagerly hand over their coins to him to buy their favourite cotton candy. The boys would shout “Uncle, give me one”. They would smile to get their favourite dessert. They were ready to do anything to please Salim because they loved the taste of cotton candy!
Some boys would call him Cotton Candy Anna, some would call him as a cotton candy seller, a cotton candy uncle! Salim would make a loud noise from his bell, that would attract hundreds of boys and girls, and when once they surround him, I would imagine Salim Mama as Lord Krishna, and the boys and girls as Gopalas and Gopis(Male and Female Cowherds)!
But my father would not allow me to buy cotton candy from Salim, warning me that the sweet was injurious to health and that the candy was made from Maida, but in my father’s absence, since my tongue prompt me to taste the sweet candy, I would buy one for myself.
But all of a sudden, our favourite Salim uncle stopped coming to our place, and when I enquired about it, I was told that he had gone abroad for some contract labour, but after that, some other traders came to our place to sell delicious cotton candy, but none of us were interested in buying it from them, since we loved Salim uncle so much and we would never forget his smiling and kindly face.
YOURS EVERLOVING FRIEND
HARISHANKAR