Recollections of Childhood.

The above two paintings are painted by Frantz Charlet 1862-1928.  These paintings remind me of my childhood.

1) I started smoking at an early age of around 11. I was accompanied by a friend who saw someone throw a burning cigarette butt which he rushed to pick up and hid under the pheran (smock). He had a few puffs and next he gave it to me. I was reluctant but he convinced me that it is soothing. So I too smoked a few puffs and coughed instantly. We headed to our home hiding the cigarette under our pheran. Shockingly, I found my mother coming from opposite side in a lane and she saw me throwing out the smoke from my mouth. And you can imagine what must have happened at home. She was angry and furious and beat me with a stick. 

Later on we got used to smoking and used to lit the cigarettes from each other's as in the painting.

2) The second painting reminds me of a game called LAGORI which we used to play in childhood. We placed seven earthen tablets one over the other and a player of one team was supposed to hit it. If he succeeded the team had to run away till caught or else they must rebuild the earthen tablets to be declared a winner.

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Fortune telling experience

I was watching Indian Idol on Sony TV today. Nana Patekar had been invited as a guest. Since the beginning of this series of Indian Idol, a participant claimed that she was a Numerologist. She was asked by Nana Patekar to tell what was his age? Nana Patekar obviously showed that he doesn't believe in such things as fortune telling and numerology. She was in a fix and out of confusion blurted out 43. Nana smiled and in his own style said, "You are right, but just add 31 to it. That makes it 74". This was indirectly a dig on her numerology.

I recalled a similar incident that had happened with me in 1971. I was working as Branch Manager, Kashmir Govt Arts Emporium, Sector 17, Chandigarh. A bearded astrologer came into the showroom and entered my cabin. He claimed that he is a fortune teller and can tell me about my future. Of course he expected to be paid for the job. I asked him to sit in the chair in front of me and comforted him. 

At the very outset, I asked him a question, "Can you tell me what is my age?" 

He got flabbergasted. 

He looked at my face intently. My look told him that I may be around 20-25 years old but the atmosphere of the Emporium and the chair I was occupying told him that it cannot be less than 30-35. He got totally confused and out of despair blurted out that your age is around 32. 

I laughed and told him that you cannot tell my age though I am sitting in your front, how can you tell my future which is very distant and not yet born. So I requested him to leave without wasting my time. However, while leaving I told him that I was born in 1950 and therefore am 21 years old. He left my cabin hurriedly and didn't look back even once.