CHILDHOOD JOYS

In our little village we had a great advantage over our peer group. The vast expanse of open ground, gave us ample freedom of movement. No restriction of boundaries was imposed on us within our compound. I vividly remember that ‘Ammachi’ used to take me on her back and do all sorts of tricks to amuse Jacob and me. I loved to play with my younger brothers and sisters especially the toddler, cute, little Mariamma. Most of the time, Jacob and I used to always include them, Aleyamma, Antony and Mariamma, in our games and we would try to play the games they were interested in. At other times they would sit and watch us playing when the game did not suit them. They used to love mounting on our backs when we kneel down and go on all fours pretending we were elephants; we used to fidget and try to touch them with our hands as if it was the elephant’s trunk. They really enjoyed this very childish game of ours mainly played to amuse them. Mariamma used to find it difficult to mount on my back so I had to lower one side and she used to be assisted by Jacob to climb up holding my hair for additional support. 

Excerpts from

MEMOIRS

An autobiography

by

Joseph J. Thayamkeril

Lawyer, Kochi, Kerala, India.

josephjthayamkeril.blogspot.com

josephjthayamkeril@gmail.com