lets stay AngloIndian

I’m not a recognised expert in the field, but I’m still going to assert that, while growing up, boys did seem to have much more fun than girls. That was certainly true in my case. Just a couple of boys, armed with catapults, and we were ready to take on the world. Our primary targets were the garden lizards, big and small, that roamed the great number of trees in the place I called home—the entire campus of Vestry School, in Trichy. I had, for company, a few boys who stayed in the school for the holidays, and what a gang we were.

So, what is a catapult? Nothing but a slingshot, and today if you search diligently, you can buy what may be called “designer catapults”. I possess two different kinds, complete with ammunition that comes with the purchase. If you are not fastidious, you could visit the weekly “shandy”, ( it’s held every Friday, here in Pallavaram, rain or shine, as it has been for over 100 years now), and pick up a rough-and-ready slingshot for a few bucks.

During the school summer holidays, my friends and I would examine every tree for the foul “buffy” as we called them. I still remember accounting for 19 of them on a particular day—all by myself. Nowadays I am not murderous at all, and love to see them lifting their bodies on their tiny but strong feet. I now think the male buffies are play-acting courtship rituals, for they become a bright red around the gills. Sometimes two males will face-off, with the the winner thus assured of a mate.

That brings me back to the point I made earlier—that boys have ( or, at least, used to have) more fun. For us guys we had our catapults, we played all kinds of “marble” games, we had “gillie-dandoo”, we broke each others “tops”, we learned to swim, to ride a bicycle, to have a “puff”— beedi or cigarette, didn’t matter, and to share a cup of coffee, one-by-two. Today, girls only sing about all their pranks, if they had any at all—as they do in that very catchy song “Girls just wanna have fun”.

I guess I lived a charmed life, living as I did in the school campus. When I reached my late teens, I even had my own private playground, where I could give it my all. I wasn’t too good at athletics, but I was determined to excel in hockey. My hard work paid off, when in my final year in College, I was selected for the Madras University team. Hard work does pay.

Until next time, dear Readers.