THE STREET WHERE WE LIVED

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Coexistence in camaraderie






As a youngster, I lived in a street called Collector's Bungalow Road in Kovilpatti. There was a government bungalow there, which was occupied by a sub-divisional magistrate, not a Collector. But, somehow, the `Collector' got into the name. Later, it was cut short to `Bungalow Street,' which was more appropriate. Among the bungalows was one belonging to the Zamindar of Kuruvikulam. Gandhiji halted here briefly during one of his whirlwind tours of the country. Later, the Zamindar sold off this bungalow.


What is in a name

The people living on Bungalow Street used their caste names, but they moved with their neighbours without any consciousness of caste or creed. Theetharappa Mudaliar, Arasappa Pillai, Krishna Raja, Nataraja Nadar and Susaiyappa Naidu, who was a Catholic, mingled in social camaraderie all through the year. And the children and grandchildren of these neighbours all played together. We played a lot of native games in addition to hockey and football. The girls played games like `Pandi.' On moonlit nights, we played hide-and-seek, and guessing games after dinner.


On festival days, sweets were distributed to all houses. When `Kaarthigai dheepams' were lit, they were lit in all houses. And When Christmas came, there were paper lanterns hanging in all houses. Those days there were no Xmas lanterns available in the shops, and so had to be made at home. All the young ladies got together to make these lanterns. They never thought about what religion they belonged to.


And when youngsters were recruited for carol rounds, many non-Christian boys also joined in. (Girls never came on carol rounds those days). I was taken along not because I sang well, but because I made a lot of noise, which was necessary to wake up sleeping householders. Crackers were burst by all the boys during Deepavali and Christmas. Sometimes, some families joined together and had moonlight dinners (Nila Choru) on the terrace of one of the houses.


Highbrows and lowbrows

The men of our street, along with some others from neighbouring areas, started a literary association where they gathered in the evenings and discussed literary or philosophical questions. They also played carom, chess or bridge when they wearied of intellectual fare.

One of my aunts who lived in Bangalore had come home for a vacation. She organized a dinner in which she tried to incorporate the sophisticated practices of her high society friends. There were place cards for each diner which had a kind of riddle, which, when solved, would give the identity of the diner, and he had to sit in that place. She looked forward with great anticipation to the way the diners would react.
She was terribly disappointed when the gentlemen of the neighbourhood brushed aside the card routine and plumped themselves wherever they wanted. "Why all this, just serve the food" (Idhellaam edhukku, summa saappaadu podamma). She went off into the next room in a huff, muttering, "Country louts." They were perhaps not too sophisticated but they were wonderfully humane. At times of need they showed great concern, compassion and brotherly love.


Since those days, I have lived in several other streets in so many cities. But Bungalow Street is still on my mind, evoking pleasant memories of an ideal neighbourhood.



J. VASANTHAN
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