I didn’t honestly think that motherhood would make me relive my childhood to such an extent. It seems like a trip down memory lane each day as I recall new details and memories from my childhood.
Two things that come to my mind are that there is some bias in my recall which is due to what I choose to remember. Maybe I am looking at my childhood through rose-tinted glasses but I guess the innocence of being a child prevents you from seeing otherwise.
The second fact being, when one parent is no longer with us, no longer there to speak for themselves, there is an image, a story, a persona created on our mind based on everything we have chosen to remember and take forward and it is that narrative that we repeat to ourselves and to those around us.
While there’s nothing wrong with this as such, it need not always be the entire truth that we chose to remember. The human brain is far far more intelligent than what AI is made out to be. This selective memory is probably a way we have subconsciously chosen to protect ourselves and move forward.
My earliest memories are from Koramangala where I spent several years until we moved to Banashankari for my schooling. I was told that I attended Balalok and then Arunodoy Montessori for my kindergarten. I remember we used to go to Sowbhagya Traders to buy fancy stuff, have juice at Ganesh Fruit Juice and there used to be these poles near the vegetable shop where I would hold one hand and rotate until I felt dizzy. There was also Sukh Sagar where we would go once in a while to eat out, there was Peas Park around which I learnt cycling with Amma and there was the main Koramangala park where I would go often to play. Once I brought back home a small rectangular piece of wood with a design and it didnt belong to me and I felt so guilty about it because I probably knew that someone would be looking for it.
Amma would attend art classes and sometimes I would accompany her like to Prashanthi’s classes or Nanda aunty’s Kinnari School of Art or there was another place where Amma learnt Tanjore painting.
My school teachers were nice and I remember Annamma Madam, Fathima Madam and of course Sumita Mukherjee Madam who first noticed that I was perhaps short-sighted and needed glasses. They had (2?) dogs in their house which we would sometimes see.
We had a small Onida TV with limited channels. Dad had lots and lots of books and I loved to read them. I remember Appa coming back from one of his few foreign trips and I was so excited to see what he had got for us. :)
There was a catalogue book which had lots of toys and interesting things and I would always imagine how it would be if I had those exciting toys with me in my house here in India.
There was Sandhyakka and Gautham Anna upstairs with their parents Sunanda Aunty and Shankar Uncle. Aunty would do some intricate cobbri art work for weddings and other paraphernalia thats used as a part of marriage rituals. I remember there were a few stray dogs that we would feed. I think there was a Tommy and a Blacky among others. Once, one of them was injured by the car so they were taken in a tub to the vet for a check up.
There was Dr Prashant Naik’s clinic which we would frequent when I was sick; I still remember the strong odour of antiseptic and the cold, hard feel of the stethoscope when he would examine me.
There was BDA complex which had a toystore where I got my first Barbie doll. There were small fancy stores where I would get kitchen set and play Mane-Aata with Amma.
There are so many memories in this area, so many firsts in this neighbourhood that I can’t really explain. It was probably the golden era of Koramangala and today the area has completely metamorphosed into a commercial hub, unrecognizable from what it was back then..
