TELL ME A STORY IN THREE PARTS

MEMORIES OF MOM : A 20 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE IN STORIES

This year marks 20 years to my mom’s death. I’ve started to pen down some stories in her memory. This one is called Tell Me a Story in Three Parts. 

                                                                 I

“Tell me a story from when I was young”

“Ok, which one?” 

“The one where I would play with the glass and spoon”

“Ok. Come here.” 

“When you were a baby, maybe 6 months old? You had learned how to sit up. Your great grandfather used to own a restaurant back then. Most of the food would come from there. So we only needed to make the basics at home.” 

“What is basics?” 

“Basics was rice, and pappadum. The sambar or rasam, and the upperi’s would come from the restaurant. So the women in the house did not have too much work in the afternoons. We would finish lunch ad then sit to play a few rounds of cards.”

“Who all were there?”

“Well, there was me, and your Velyammumma, Achamma and Akila and Bagyoppol and Geetammai.”

“And then what happened”

“You were the only baby in the house at the time. So we would put you next to us while we sat in the living room in a circle to play. You remember the living room of the Thirumangalam house?”

“Yes”

“That’s where we sat and played. It was the funniest thing. To keep you busy while we played, we would give you a steel spoon and a glass to play with.” 

“Hehehe those were my toys?” 

“Yes. Thats what was so funny to us. It was just a spoon and a glass. But you would get so excited playing with it. You would sit for hours, playing. First you would hit the glass with the spoon from one end then you would hit from another and be very amused when you would hear the sound it makes.”

“What is amused?”

“Amused is when you are excited and happy and laughy.” 

“hehe. I was amused.” 

“Yes. Then you would turn it around another way, hit it from there and hear the sound. You wouldn’t make noise or bang it in a disturbing way. You would enjoy playing. I couldn’t believe how you would not get bored, not disturb us, but just sit there and play with the spoon and the glass. And I could tell how much you enjoyed it. Every single day, you played with that glass and spoon with the same excitement.” 

“I wouldn’t disturb you?” 

“Not at all. You would play own your own, until we finished our game. I was so amazed. How can a baby be so happy playing with a spoon and glass everyday. Some days, we would give you a plate and you would be soooo happy, it was like you didn’t know what to do! How to contain your excitement. ”

“hehehe a plattteee??!” 

“Yes! So now you had two things to hit with the spoon. And it was like you won a prize or something. It was so cute to watch.”

“hehehe so funny.” 

“I thought it was so beautiful. Such a simple thing. A spoon and a glass. You know, today, you play with so many toys. Even then, you had toys. But to watch you play with so much happiness with just a simple spoon and glass, it was very beautiful. You would be lost in your game like it was the most fun thing to play with. I learned a lot from you.” 

“Do you love me?”

“Yes, I love you. So much!” 

                                                                  II

Mum, tell me a story. 

Ok. Which story do you want to hear? 

About how I don’t drink milk. 

OK. When you were born, I was very young. Just barely 21. I knew nothing about how to take care of a baby. But I was lucky. When you were born, for the first two years, we lived with the whole family. There were more than 5 women in the house - your Ammumma, your Achamma, Akila Aunty, Geetammai, Baghyavelyamma were also there. And for 7 years, there had been no other baby in the house, so everyone happily wanted to take care of you. 

There was just one problem. You didn’t like to drink milk. 

I didn’t like milk! But all babies drink milk!

Yes. But not you. Of course, in the beginning, the first few months, you were so tiny and couldn’t understand anything. But the moment you started understanding what it meant when I latched you on my nipple, you refused to drink the milk. It was the most fascinating thing for me. A baby who is so tiny, doesn’t know anything, doesn’t even speak, but the moment the milk from my breast touched your mouth, you would just promptly turn your face away. Refusing to drink. 

Hehehe. And then?

And then what? Everyone worried a lot. A baby who doesn’t drink milk!? They tried everything to make you drink milk, but you hated it. Initially, we forced you to have the milk, and eventually you would get hungry and give in and have the milk. But after a while, you would just not drink any milk. Then we thought, ok, maybe if not milk, curd? So we tried giving you some curd. That you didn’t have a problem, you ate it very happily. But it was still strange for everyone. A baby who doesn’t drink milk, may not grow well, may have some deficiencies. 

What is deficiency? 

Deficiency is when you don’t have enough of something. For example, everyone worried that if you don’t have enough milk, there will be a deficiency of all the healthy things in milk that help keep your body strong. But secretly, I was happy. Because you know, even I don’t drink milk. I have never liked it. I don’t drink coffee and tea because of that. 

So I was like you!

Yes, you were like me. I was so happy. And I didn’t care that you didn’t like milk. I knew you would grow up and have lots of other things you will like and will be healthy. I remember when I was young, I was forced to drink milk until I got much older. I hated it. The smell used to make me want to vomit. 

Yuckkk me too. I hate the smell of milk. We are same.

Yes, we are. It’s so yucky isn’t it? I don’t know how everyone drinks it. 

Even I don’t know! Then what happens

Well so then, everyone was really worried you may not be as healthy. So just to be safe, we took yo upto a doctor and told him about it. Luckily, he said that it’s okay and if I’m having curd, that’s good. It shouldn’t be a problem. So since that day, you were excused from drinking milk. 

And now we both don’t drink milk! 

Yes, we both don’t drink milk. But we love Laban!

We love laban!

                                                                III

Mum, tell me a story.

Ok. Which one? 

The one where you and dad were in the war.

Ok. So this was when you were three or four years ago. We were here, in Saudi. And the Gulf War broke out. We were both very scared. We didn’t know what was going to happen and whether we should get out or stay.

Wait! You didn’t tell about what the Gulf War was

Oh yes! I forgot. Sorry. So the Gulf War, was when two countries Iraq and Kuwait went to war. They’re both near Saudi Arabia, and everyone in the Middle East got involved. The United States, along with Saudi Arabia and a lot of other countries supported Kuwait. The US Army came into Saudi and set up bases to support Kuwait in the war. We didn’t know what was going to happen and whether we should get out or stay. Would the war reach where we were staying in Saudi Arabia? We weren’t sure. Should we leave and go back to India? A lot of people were doing it. But we decided to wait and see. And Akbar Uncle, Shameem Aunty, Raj Uncle, Jayanti Aunty, everyone was there too, and we decided to stay and hope for the best. 

Were you scared? 

Yes. Imagine, I was so far away from India, all our family was back there. And you were so small. Your dad would go to work in the morning and I would just watch TV and follow the news. That year was the first time in history  that news channels like CNN and BBC started reporting Live. You remember what Live means? 

Yes. They are talking about it when it’s happening. 

That’s right. So we were being given information as as when they found out. A bomb has been dropped here. A missile has ben launched from there. There was shelling here. There is a threat of chemical  weapons being used. You remember what chemical weapons are? 

Yes. They mix the poison in the gas and they release it in the air. 

Yes. So if you breathe that air, you will die. They gave us all gas masks. When your dad came back from the office, we would seal all the doors and windows. We would stuff clothes to cover all the corners and sides of the windows  which would allow for air to enter. Then we would use masking tape it tight, one two times. This we would do every day. If they would ring the siren outside, it means, they think there could be a chemical weapon attack. So we all had to immediately wear our masks and run and go stand under the shower. 

heheheh under the shower? With all our clothes on?? 

Yes, they said that if we were wearing the masks and standing under the shower, we had the best chance to survive if there was a chemical attack. And there was no time to think, k the moment you hear the siren, you had to leave everything, run, wear your masks and get under the shower. It was so difficult, because you were so small and scared of the mask. And who could blame you, it was all so scary. You hated to wear the mask and you would be scared and cry every time you saw one of us in it. 

I’m still scared. The pictures of gas masks are so scary. 

Yes, it’s not nice at all. But you don’t have to be scared now. That won’t happen again. You know, Najji was a baby at that time. He hadn’t even started sitting up. There were no masks for babies that small. So you know what they did? The gave him a special box inside which aunty and uncle would put him to be safe.

And then what happened? 

Oh and then, the war went on. There was one day, you know, the scariest day, Your dad and I were sitting in front of the tv, we couldn't take our eyes off the news. They were showing us lives when and where a missile was launched from and where it would land. There would be a map and they would show the missile as a tiny drawn cartoon and when it was launched, they would show a path of where it will land and show it moving slowly on that path, and if the missile lands, they would show a cartoon explosion on the map. So then you know, that place is destroyed. 

aaandd then…

And then, we saw, they have launched a missile, directly aimed at Aramco! 

Nooooo. 

Yes! Now do you know what happens at Aramco?

They dig for oil. 

Yes. So when you bomb a place which has so much oil, not only that place but the whole area would have been destroyed in seconds. We were so scared. We couldn’t breathe. We were holding our breath and watching this missile, moving : blink blink blink on the screen. 

Then…

Then we saw that there was a counter missile that was fired from Saudi. That’s how they would try to fight back. They would fire a missile back at the missile and make it explode in the air before it can destroy the land. So now there are two missiles on the screen : one missile coming towards us and another missile fired at the first missile and going towards it.  And we kept watching. They showed them going towards each other and then just colliding and exploding on the screen. 

And we were safe! 

Yes, we were safe! 

How did the war end? 

Well, the war went on after this also. At one point it got too much, so Hadi Uncle sent all of the families of everyone working in the company to his hometown Najran. Your father and all the other uncles came for a while but had to go back when their work started again. 

Were you scared when dad left?

In the beginning, yes, It’s a very small village, Najran. On the other side of the country, like the ones you see in the desert in those pictures about Saudi Arabia? We all stayed there till it was a safer to come back to the cities. Hadi Uncle’s family, they were very sweet and kind. It was so funny but, Najran was so far away, the people there didn’t even know that there was a war going on! 

Hehehe they didn’t even know!! And then I ate Fish there? Tell me that story too! 

Yes, you started eating fish there. You loved it so much, I didn’t feel like stopping you either. How much fish you ate there! But that story I’ll tell you later. Now it’s time to sleep. 

                                                       THE END