Where it all began

A child clambered down his school bus. Skipping literally. Kindergarden school is a horrible thing for a 2 year old. Bullies, sadistic teachers, stupid little furry toys, forced mealtimes where some self-styled popular chap steals your food just to see you cry. Well you get the picture. No wonder he was glad to escape from it all.

After all home was in an idyllic little forest, miles outside the small smelly city. All green and beautiful. You should have been there when it rained. Pearl like drops clambering down every vine, every flower. The child stayed in a rambling place amidst oceans of sheer garden. Sometimes he would just sit in the little porch and watch it rain. Sigh...

There were roses, and poppy, colourful marigold, sweet smelling jasmine, heavenly tulips and those huge fruit trees which he loved to climb. And well there always was the TV and those delightful scissors which he could use to snip off everything around him when he was down in the blues.

He had no friends around him - nor did he need any. His father, a genius of kinds had made it big in life quite early actually. And hence he got to stay with people so much older than him, whose children had already left their parents. Soldierly old men and fat miserable aunties surrounded the kid. And still all was bliss.

Pottering around the nooks and crevices of the endless patch of the garden was fun. Sneaking around butterflies, exotic birds, an occasional mongoose or two. Oh yes and his little mite of a sister. Could things get any better?

Sometimes those horrible relatives of his father turned up. Oh your mom is too uppity and so are you. Well the kid could be mean when he wanted and he paid back in kind quite often. Boy did he have an awful temper.

Sometimes he got to go to the sea in his mom's place. Freaking out in the old library attic, poring over the Sherlock Holmeses, Agatha Christies, Treasure Islands and all the golden stuff. His imagination would steal away. If only he had a pirate's cutlass what a swashbuckling figure he would cut. Everything in life was a glorious adventure, waiting to be unravelled. Chasing after the countless monkeys who clambered around grandpa's terrace and to sliding down the ledges and literally unreachable nooks. Those indeed were exciting times. Need we mention mutton chops at the beach when he got to sit by the shore amidst sand castles watching the waves sweep past his feet.

The happiest years really.