BREAKING FREE INTO A MARRIAGE (DINING) HALL

 

From Sampath’s Desk:

  

 

BREAKING FREE INTO A MARRIAGE (DINING) HALL

 

I was an 8/10-year-old school boy then in the late 1960’s living in Triplicane, Chennai. My elder cousin brother and I were naughty boys who used to be together most of the time, chatting, playing and roaming around. We were particular about our dress code. We even used to wash our face and apply talcum powder whenever we ventured out.

 

We were fond of sweetmeats and roasted nuts. One day, my cousin brother and I turned desperate having nothing to eat. Wisdom dawning we went to the nearby Corporation Medical Clinic with a complaint of ‘mouth ulcer’. For, we knew well that any ‘mouth ulcer’ patient would be given sweet-tasting ‘yeast tablets’. Sweet tasting Glycerin liquid would also be applied on our tongue. A ready and innovative way to sweeten our tongue!

 

There came a day when we had no snacks to eat at home, and with no penny on hand we couldn’t buy anything to munch as was our wont, and which we were very fond of. It was an evening when we happened to pass by a marriage hall in our place.

 

Suddenly an idea struck my cousin who was more impish, waggish and daring than me. He suggested we went back home to dress ourselves up including applying talcum powder on our faces for a visit to the marriage hall. Out of fear though I was initially hesitant, he prevailed upon and persuaded me into accepting the idea. Half-heartedly I agreed.

 

After making ourselves look trim we came back from home and broke free into the marriage hall. We simply tailgated following a small group. Even though we were apprehensive of being confronted by someone in the hall by identifying us as strangers, perhaps our good dress-up and look didn’t generate any doubt in people inside the marriage hall.

 

While sitting at the reception hall we were taken aback when we saw the ‘Madhav Sir’ (a teacher), whom we knew well, rushing into the marriage hall. After entering the hall he exchanged pleasantries with some of those present there. He then saw us sitting and moved towards us. We became almost jittery. He asked, “What boys, how are you, how come you are here; how are your studies going on, etc?” After the customary wishes, we said, “All going fine, Sir”. Before he could continue his talk with us and confront us with embarrassing questions, a group of his friends who just then entered came to our rescue and took him away from us. We heaved a sigh and felt comfortable not being hassled with any more questions.

 

Remaining cool but edgy for a while we slipped into the dining hall to have tasty and yummy snacks/tiffin, the highlight being delicious ‘Baadaam Halwa’ and ‘Ice-cream’, among others, which we were always longing for.

 

In the Dining Hall, we saw another known person sitting far away from where we were dining. We cleverly ducked a few times and saved ourselves from being sighted by him lest we might be subjected to an ‘interrogation’. Eating over we quietly made good our escape!

 

Being naïve and immature boys not in the know of behavioural etiquette and protocols that one should not go to a place especially a wedding uninvited we embarked upon the (mis)adventure.

 

Decades have rolled by. But even now I feel bad about that episode. Even though it was the idea of my elder cousin (and who was the real culprit) I shouldn’t have agreed for that. I keep telling myself, “What to do? As innocent boys we behaved in such a manner as dictated by a mundane need thinking it as innocuous!” Of course, that cannot absolve me of the puerile smirch. With shame gripping me after the event, I always considered that puerile episode a nightmare never to be repeated.

 

R.SAMPATH