Manakad - a memoir by 4th generation

“……… you are the 4^th generation of Aandiyathu" Dad finished  saying.  I blinked.

Dad was telling me about his ancestral home at Manakkad.  He told me that I am the 4^th generation of Aandiyathu. Apparently, my great-grandfather lived in that house, then my grandfather, Dad and now me.

Dad told me about the times he and his cousins, aunts, uncles used to go to the river during the holidays and bathed and played there.

I imagined Dad in his underwear, jumping into the river, while his aunts watched and washed their clothes and his cousins and uncles all swimming with him. Some of them were expert swimmers, like Sarada Chitta, who used to carry uncle Sujesh on her back across the river.

“Aaaaahhhhhhh, memories” Dad said dreamily. There was no doubt that he was remembering his babyhood, childhood and olden days.

I tried to remember my days there.  For example, like the times we went to the river.

When I was a lot more younger, I used to be scared of the fishe in the river. I was really scared of them even though they were small. The reason, I thought they would come to my toes and bite them off and so, practically, I wouldn’t have any toes left.

Thank goodness I am older now and not afraid of silly things like being afraid of fish.

Except that I am a little scared (okay, a lot scared!) of sharks…………….

To remove my phobia of fish, I made a solemn oath;

I, Janaki S Nair, with a sound mind and sound body, is now

REMOVING MY PHOBIA OF FISH!!

And believe it or not, it totally worked!

It is much easier to swim in a pool for me. This time, we bought me a new swimsuit and went for swimming at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor stadium.  

There are endless stories and memories about Aandiyathu, I cannot write them all in one day. So Adios.