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Friday 19 April 2013

Shri Ramanavami and My First School .....


www.chitrannaa.blogspot.in
Shri Rama Navami.... The festival evokes so many fond memories of early childhood. The earliest memory of the festival was way back in the sixties when I must be barely five years old. How strange life is and how wonderful games our memory plays. We may not be able to recall what we did a 
month's, a week's or even a day's back. But certain events, incidents are so vivid in our memory that like a marquee they roll in front of our eyes as if they are happening today!
www.chitrannaa.blogspot.in

On Ramanavami evening amma would dress us and we would run along with her to ShriRama temple on Gubbera Betta in Raichur. Come to think of it – why was it called Gubbera betta? What does it mean? Then we never bothered and now it doesn't matter! I was about four years old then and we left Raichur when I was maybe eight years old and subsequently have never visited that place. But I can recall the street, road, trees, flowers as if it happened yesterday. Childhood memories!

From our house through a narrow lane we would go via “Gowdara Kamanu"  an arch in front of a cluster of houses belonging obviously to some gowda. After passing Narasimha devara gudi we would go through a road leading to amma's tailoring class which had a big kenda sampige tree. The petals of the Kenda sampige would make a golden bed with strong vibrant scent everywhere.
Incidentally amma was learning tailoring and would buy meters of clothes and stitch dresses for we four sisters – exactly the same color, same design and none of us ever complained. In fact we used to be extremely thrilled to bother about such insignificant things like similarity of the dresses. Of course this situation lasted for maybe 5-6 years after which we would feel embarrassed to walk together in similar dresses once we grew up!