Maami Saagasangal Part I

Growing up was a lot of fun for me. Summers remind of the times we used to have school annual holidays and all our cousins used to meet up at our granpa’s place in a town famous for its leather tanneries. Well…its hardly hygienic, still, our granpa’s house used to have the most huge mango trees in the locality. As all the cousins houses were situated quite nearby, and once the exams got over, we would all rush to his place and have fun. We were six, and in decreasing order of age. Me, being the youngest of the six, used to left out of most of the games. Reasons varying from “You are a kid” “You are too clumsy” “We don’t want a cry baby” etc were normally given and hence, resultant would be that I was left out as a ‘Oppuku chappani’…Sigh! Not that I felt bad, but I always felt it safe to watch gory games like seven stones from a distance. Even with that, I somehow used to be the most injured by the end of the day. Note- The following incidents are purely non-fictional.

When the eldest of my cousin reached 10 yrs of age, he was taught how to cycle and the tradition continued for every summer after that, though the task was taken up further for the next five years by the first cousin who had passed. We used to hire a hero jet cycle from the nearby cycle shop called RDX (Believe me! It is true!!) for 2 Rs per day.

The first time I was let near a cycle was around the time when each of cousins got bored of the tradition. So, after many kenjals and konjals, I dragged my sister to teach me the humble art of cycling. She said yes only after her session with my mom on how to be a role model for sisters!! It so happened that we couldn’t hire the cycle from RDX and hence, she had to lend a “Captain” cycle from one of our relatives. That cycle was comparatively heavier than hero jet, but I was still adamant to learn. The instant I started pedaling, I felt as if I was in heaven. Brimming with confidence, and screaming my heart out, I sped up and went straight to..err..a large upturned stone. Though I escaped unscathed, I do not wish to reveal the status of the cycle. It shall Rest in Peace.

My second experience was an improvement, I should say. This time, I didn’t have just one, but three tutors (cousins again!) with me. All the three had a good track record with 2, 3 and 7 months of prior experience, that being the reason I had selected them for my training. I was confident this time as I even had the hero jet cycle hired for my sole learning. We also had zeroed in on an all empty field which would help me in cycling advanced levels. The weather was fine, the cycle was in perfect condition, and I had the perfect tutors. What could wrong?? Well, the training session got disrupted initially when the owner of field wasn’t happy with our antics. My father asked us to decide on another place to continue my training. We already had a backup option, which was the road behind the pettai temple. What brilliance, I say!! The training went progressively smoother after that and by noon, I had gotten the hang of how to balance the cycle.

At one particular instance, it so happened that I was cycling in the middle of the road with my cousins balancing on either sides, we heard a low rumbling noise. We ignored it and continued the session. Suddenly, down the road, I saw a huge amount of dusty wind advancing. The hard worker that I am, I continued to practise with determination. The dust soon turned out a huge crowd of erumamaadus trundling towards us. The next second, I see my partners in crime fleeing away from the scene leaving me alone. I couldn’t run away as the hired cycle was still with me. Trembling with fear, I was left to save the cycle from the evil vicious erumamaadus. They kept gaining and the distance between me and the maadus kept closing. The tiger in me came out and I started running along with the cycle..er..in the opposite direction!!! Thus, the cycle and the rider escaped from the villainous erumamaadus of C.Pettai. Maami shall not further brag about the aftermath of the incident which includes a couple of crying scenes and a street fight between the cousins. Having returned the cycle safely to RDX, I returned back home having lost all interest in cycling. That doesn’t mean I’d given up. Remaining veera saagasangal shall be explained later. Bye for now!!