masterwordsmith-unplugged

Throughout my school days, I always had an Indian close friend. In fact, I could hold a simple conversation in Tamil with my the family members of my Indian friends (if any of them is reading this, please contact me!!!).

During my primary school, I was best friends with a girl named Krishna Venni. She used to live along Codrington Avenue and her dad took her to school on his bicycle. Krishna Venni's mom was a lovely Chinese lady. Although they were not blessed with the finer things in life, one thing that struck me till this day is the fact that they were a very closely-knitted and loving family. With her two beautiful plaits, Krishna looked feminine and yet imposing as her austere appearance showed that she has much strength of character. Of course Krishna and I had clashes. As a matter of fact, who didn't at that age? We would quarrel over erasers, seating positions during music lessons or why one did not wait for the other during break time and so on. One thing I will never forget is how Krishna would bring Deepavali delights to share with me in school. Despite her social background, she was one of the kindest friends I had in primary school. Similarly, I would bring Chinese New Year goodies for her. During break time, we played hop-scotch together at the open space near Winchell Home in Methodist Girls' School where we studied till Form 5.By the time we moved on to secondary school, we drifted apart when we went to different classes.

When I was in Form 2, I moved to a new home in Green Lane. To my delight, one of my classmates lived opposite me. Her name = Emily Raj, a lovely Christian girl who came from a very loving Christian family. Her mom was a nurse with the Family Planning Association and she has a beautiful sister (Jessica), a brother whose name I have forgotten and two lovely nieces and a nephew (then)one of whom is Manu. We were as thick as thieves and truly mad hatters in the same school bus. Luckily, we had a fantastic Chinese man who was our bus driver. Ah Chik, as we called him, tolerated our guffaws, jokes and crazy talk. Emily and I would always sit in front with him, as if to tell the others that we had special privileges because of our close relationship. My days and nights were spent in her home, returning to my own home for meals and to sleep. And why so? My mom had just passed away and I badly needed a mother figure for solace and Emily's mom who was very warm, kind and loving to me filled that gap in my life. My teenage years were definitely colorful because of Emily and she was like my moral compass, trying to steer me back to the right path. For instance, I confess I hardly ever studied when I was in school, preferring to spend my days reading and reading (er...I still do that now :-) and truly old habits die hard) or pretending to be studying when in fact, there was a novel hidden in my textbook or whatever, be it at home or in school. Emily and her family taught me many phrases in Tamil such as the following (my spelling may not be correct):

Romba Nandri (Thank you)

Naan kardiliki rain (I love you)

Por yi peh ser reh (You are lying)

Kaalai Vanakkam (Good morning)

Maalai Vanakkam (Good evening)

Apram paarkalame (See you later)

Poittu varen (Goodbye)

Paravaa illa (You're welcome)

Manikannum (Sorry)

When we left Form Five, alas, we lost touch. Years down the road when I moved to my present home, I discovered that they too had moved to a place somewhere nearby but all too soon, the whole family moved to KL. Till this day, I treasure those moments spent with her and her family be it eating muruku or papadam with curry, poring over Mills and Boon books, classics, comics - oh - she was my partner in crime indeed and I miss her so!!! Emily - if you are reading this, please get in touch with me cos all of us have been trying to look high and low for you but to no avail. For all those years of sharing, laughing, caring, loving and being together as buddies - thanks!!!

Another girl whom I was close to was Parameswary. With her plaits, Param looked like a goody-goody prefect while Emily was the matronly class monitor (of course I was the class jester and prankster). I put them in very difficult positions whereby they had to make a decision to enforce law and order or to protect me, their mad friend. Ahem. Of course they chose the latter. In Form 2, one of my favorite past times was exploding stink bombs in class just before the next teacher came in :-). Well, it was a pretty expensive habit .I had to cycle to Kek Lok Si to get my 'supply' which came in small boxes. If I remember correctly, I was NEVER caught :-). Things came to a head so eventually, stink bombs were outlawed and I had to find other avenues to entertain my friends :-). No matter what - my friends never betrayed me. I am sorry I put them in a fix but the adrenalin rush was worth it.

Now, I am not at all advocating rule-breaking behavior. Yet, I have to confess such deviant acts made me more human and a better teacher. I was able to earn the respect of my students because I understood why they broke rules. My compassion and understanding put me in good stead years down the road when I was appointed as the Upper School Head of Pastoral Care.

Sorry for the digression...

Anyway, I will never forget the Deepavali Open House that Param hosted at her humble home in Lines Road flats. From my observation, people who come from humble backgrounds tend to be VERY generous during festivals. I can never forget the warm reception that each of us had at Param's home. A delectable spread was not only tantalising to the eyes, it was also a culinary experience to be savored. Proudly, Param told us how she helped her mom to prepare the feast. It must have cost a bomb but what's more important was the lesson learnt at a very young age - friendship has no boundaries and we can be terrific friends regardless of class, creed or color. Thirty odd years down the road, I still remember that once upon a time during Deepavali, the light of Deepavali shone forth brightly from the hearts of Param's wonderful family. Wherever you are today Param, I just want to say I miss you and hope to reconnect with you again.

To all my friends, blog readers and blogger friends of the Hindu faith,here's hoping this festival of lights brings your way, bright sparkles of contentment, that stay with you through the days ahead. May the festival of lights be the harbinger of joy and prosperity. Best wishes for a Happy Diwali.



HAVE A LOVELY TIME EVERYONE!!!