Ugadi festival, the beginning of the year for Hindu’s. There are 2 of them one according to solar calendar and another as lunar calendar. We follow the solar one so usually our one falls around the date 14th or 15th April. This year I missed it a lot because I hadn’t to home for last been for dipawali as well.
All the remembrance started unfolding on the day after the ugadi in the morning sitting alone in the conservatory and sipping my cup of tea. Sunitha was still in the bed!
We use to have ‘Khani’ to see in the morning. The Khani is a plate full of rice seeds and a coconut decorated with all the gold's in the house and flowers and coins with a mirror kept in front. We have to getup early in the morning and with out looking at anybody's face straight go in front of the worship room were the Khani is kept and look in the mirror in front of it. The significance is that leaving all the old evil and taking only the good things to the new year. Then take bath and wear new cloths. It is also the starting of the new season of farm works. So the rice seeds need to be seeded in the paddy on the same day. Father use to do the worship then he would ask me to take the seeds to paddy and seed them.
Before seeding we need to burn some dry leaves collected from the wood nearby with some dry mud from the paddy. We have to do 3 burning spots on the each paddy and do the burning then pray god for the good yield in the year ahead and plant the seeds. I use to go to the paddy's and finish all burning and seeding then play there itself! mother use to come with a cane to chase me back to home and from there to school!!
Now only all the customs we followed and celebrated are remembrance. My father said all the paddy’s are no more a paddy’s now everybody filled them with more mud and building the houses and constructed roads. For me paddy’s are not only a piece of land, it has the life as well, it need to be kept as cultivation land not as a building. I don’t know why people does not understand this. I had a dream of buying a lots of cultivation land and do a mas farming.
I feel that in India rules are crazy. There is no protection for the farming land. After seeing the way the farmers do the farming in England, I feel that India is not doing anything towards agriculture. It was my dream form my childhood that I want to be a farmer. Unfortunately the amount of land we have I am not afford to do that. So I decided to go out of house earn some money and buy some more land and settle down as a farmer. When I came to Bangalore I started thinking of buying a coffee plant, but it is very expensive so I came to London!!! It was chasing a dream and going in a wrong direction!!!! But still I want to do that I don’t know how?
I was lucky in a way because for my High school education I need not had to go to Udupi like my sisters. I had a high school near home. I had privilege walk a short distance to reach to school and having afternoon lunch at home!!. My mother never brought me up like only son. I had to do all the households. Cleaning the house, washing and milking the cows, paddy works, if time remains then play!, then in remaining time read!!!. I think in my life I never gave first preference for study which was very unusual in India. My parents wanted me to give first preference to my studies but I never did!!
I high school I seriously started thinking about writing. Our Kannada teacher Gopal Bhat encouraged me as well. I was good in making different models with cardboard. I did a model of a ship and couple of flights! Science teacher Nagabhushan Bhat encouraged me for that and because of him I developed interest in astrophysics. I did a model of planetary system with clay, I carved a galaxy on a stone! My teachers in my high school encouraged me a lot. Whatever I did they appreciated my work. I did wrote a book about solar system!!
I met some of my good friends for life there! Yogeesh and Ajith are the couple whom I am still close with!! I look back those were the golden days of life. Tension use to be only couple of days a month!. When I get my marks card of the monthly exam!!!. My dad wanted me to do well and be first in the class. But I use to be 5th or 6th!!! Every time I get my marks card acting like I am serious about reading and read all day. Once dad signs the marks card then all the other things come ahead of reading!!!!
My teachers called my mother to school, when I was in 10th standard and told her that your son is intelligent but he doesn't concentrate on study he may miss first class result. Because 10th standard was one of the important stage of study, my parents want me to concentrate. Previous day of the exam I went to play cricket! On the day of exam early morning my dad caught me reading Kannada novel!!!. Now it feel like such a fool I was.
I don’t know was I a rebel those days? Was that a age? Whatever it may may be I understood one thing we need to pay the price for every action we commit in life!!!
