Aeons ago....
There's something complusive about places and impressions.... Specially the haunts of your childhood! Their aura, their " being" haunts u for the rest of ur life. Our brain has this uncanny ability to muddle up the past. It tends to mix up impressions, opinions and blends it with the facts.
Tirupati - Its the place where I was born. Right infront of the famed Govinda Raja Temple and right beside the ruins of bugga madam. The house was considered to be a sort of residence for krishnadevaraya whenever he wanted to stayover to get the darshan of Lord Venkat! I remember that the house was built primarily out of teak wood. I've only seen the part my grand parents occupied. I dont remember having ventured to see the rest of the house. I remember the twisted staircase that held to the first floor that they occupied. It didnt have railings and the staircase gave me a few creeps in my dream- Dizzy creep!
The house looked like a stage propped up! As soon as we entered we saw the huge mahogany desk . The house had one huge room, a big kitchen and a sprawlin unconstructed area we called "open". A lot of evenings were spent in the open. We used to play there. Look out for monkeys and watch out for buses whose head lights glowed like tiny stars traversing through the dense mountains. I remember counting those buses for hours together....! I remember Saroja pati [my maternal grand ma] sitting in the center of a huge circle comprising of all my cousins, nith and myself.. captivating us with her rather uncanny ability to spin a tale about raja's, mantra vadis, seven seas and so on...! She is a great racanteur! As she gave us typical hot gongura sadam and thoheil we ate it with great relish, listening to her story, cracking inane jokes and laughing together....!
These memories linger....!
The temple had a role to play. I was always awestruck by the size and beauty of the gopuram. We used to go through the "sanidhi veedi" and shop for small things. Standing beneath the gopuram was fascinating. I often visualised the yonder yrs of the king and the bazaar filled with precious stones! Then, the haunting voice of the "suprabhatam" always disturbed me during the first few days of my stay. The pranganam of the temple was huge. The tourists didnt come in such large numbers back then. I remember pausing by the entrance to listen to pati recite "The Aadi mulame " story engraved in bronze on the temple door. Then, I remember the times when we simply ran around that place playing games....! The feel of the stone beaneath our feet there was different from running on a play ground. It felt different... Nice!
There was a huge "kuppai thotti" and a man hole right in front of the temple. The man hole was covered by a stone that wobbled when one stepped on it. During the rainy months the rain water gushed into that area and many unsuspecting passers-by would be the source of our giggle and entertainment when they stepped on it! Just next to out house there was this building in ruin... "The Bugga madam" It shared a wall and we could jump from our "open" on to its terrace. It appeared like a haunted, abandoned house that appeased our childish curiosity. I used to be considered naughty back then. I remember climbing up a high wall and jumping across to that place mighty pleased with myself as if I'd accomplished a rather huge task!
There was a temple kolam (pond)... Dirty and unkept. It was full of fishes though! A girl called valli decided to take us on an outing to the temple and I was intrigued by the fishes in it. As I peered to get a closer view I slipped and fell into it. I remember a lot of screaming and finally a man jumped in and got me out. It was like getting out of a ditch. I remember my mom refusing to wash me down in the bathroom.. I was subjected to a rather embarassing clean -up while they poured buckets of water over me in the "open" while my chittapa's and aunts had a good laugh sitting in chairs watching me being washed and reprimanded. Poor valli was shocked and seemed to be in tears!
This is as far my memory takes me... My first impressions of the house and the surroundings!
Tirupati - Its the place where I was born. Right infront of the famed Govinda Raja Temple and right beside the ruins of bugga madam. The house was considered to be a sort of residence for krishnadevaraya whenever he wanted to stayover to get the darshan of Lord Venkat! I remember that the house was built primarily out of teak wood. I've only seen the part my grand parents occupied. I dont remember having ventured to see the rest of the house. I remember the twisted staircase that held to the first floor that they occupied. It didnt have railings and the staircase gave me a few creeps in my dream- Dizzy creep!
The house looked like a stage propped up! As soon as we entered we saw the huge mahogany desk . The house had one huge room, a big kitchen and a sprawlin unconstructed area we called "open". A lot of evenings were spent in the open. We used to play there. Look out for monkeys and watch out for buses whose head lights glowed like tiny stars traversing through the dense mountains. I remember counting those buses for hours together....! I remember Saroja pati [my maternal grand ma] sitting in the center of a huge circle comprising of all my cousins, nith and myself.. captivating us with her rather uncanny ability to spin a tale about raja's, mantra vadis, seven seas and so on...! She is a great racanteur! As she gave us typical hot gongura sadam and thoheil we ate it with great relish, listening to her story, cracking inane jokes and laughing together....!
These memories linger....!
The temple had a role to play. I was always awestruck by the size and beauty of the gopuram. We used to go through the "sanidhi veedi" and shop for small things. Standing beneath the gopuram was fascinating. I often visualised the yonder yrs of the king and the bazaar filled with precious stones! Then, the haunting voice of the "suprabhatam" always disturbed me during the first few days of my stay. The pranganam of the temple was huge. The tourists didnt come in such large numbers back then. I remember pausing by the entrance to listen to pati recite "The Aadi mulame " story engraved in bronze on the temple door. Then, I remember the times when we simply ran around that place playing games....! The feel of the stone beaneath our feet there was different from running on a play ground. It felt different... Nice!
There was a huge "kuppai thotti" and a man hole right in front of the temple. The man hole was covered by a stone that wobbled when one stepped on it. During the rainy months the rain water gushed into that area and many unsuspecting passers-by would be the source of our giggle and entertainment when they stepped on it! Just next to out house there was this building in ruin... "The Bugga madam" It shared a wall and we could jump from our "open" on to its terrace. It appeared like a haunted, abandoned house that appeased our childish curiosity. I used to be considered naughty back then. I remember climbing up a high wall and jumping across to that place mighty pleased with myself as if I'd accomplished a rather huge task!
There was a temple kolam (pond)... Dirty and unkept. It was full of fishes though! A girl called valli decided to take us on an outing to the temple and I was intrigued by the fishes in it. As I peered to get a closer view I slipped and fell into it. I remember a lot of screaming and finally a man jumped in and got me out. It was like getting out of a ditch. I remember my mom refusing to wash me down in the bathroom.. I was subjected to a rather embarassing clean -up while they poured buckets of water over me in the "open" while my chittapa's and aunts had a good laugh sitting in chairs watching me being washed and reprimanded. Poor valli was shocked and seemed to be in tears!
This is as far my memory takes me... My first impressions of the house and the surroundings!
posted by dippydiv at 4:29 AM
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