March 25, 2004

As a person grows older he realizes who he is. During his childhood, a lot of things are unclear about his own existence. An adult doesn’t ever want to lose his childhood memories.

Recalling my own childhood is a pleasant exercise. I can never forget my kitten, Patty, who I got when I was four years old. I can still recall the sadness I felt when I came to know she was killed by an adult cat. It took me some more years to understand why cats kill each other. During that time I used to live in Zambia and the jungle surroundings allowed me to forget the loss as in particular I was deeply in love with monkeys living in these jungles. The kitten was replaced by a tortoise that sadly ran away after a fortnight or so.

Everything that I remember of Zambia seems very big rather gigantic. In our house there used to be a whole lot of spiders on the wall.The spiders used to send shivers down my spine. In my memory they were the size of my palm. I am not sure whether this palm is of now or of my childhood.

In Zambia my father was posted in the copper belt and worked as an accountant in the copper mining industry. He used to be posted at different cities for six to months. In all cases we were provided with nice homes. Each time around I used to befriend the house with its own set of plants and animals. Frogs were present in houses where there were swimming pools. I liked the sound of frogs, which my mother hated. My brother and I used to play with these fascinating amphibians. Also after the endless rains, in all houses, the frogs used to come in great numbers much to my delight.

With the rain there were always great bolts of thunder and awesome flashes of lightning which I always enjoyed. The rains always brought with them more greenery to the jungle environment. This was the first time I saw huge widely spread rainbows across the sky. The lightning used to really light up the whole surroundings. Once it struck a guava tree burning it.

I fondly remember a trip to the game reserve. In this we travelled the park in a jeep and were at petting distance of many wild animals. I was able to pet a few wild chimpanzees who had come to us when we fed them biscuits. Near a waterhole we saw a family of hippopotamus. There were many giraffes, elephants, zebras and lions. The encounter with a rhinoceros was life threatening. He was incensed at seeing the jeep, especially after the driver teased him, and he attacked the jeep with his horns. As I was wearing red coloured clothes I was more scared. Upto this moment in life my family insists that the rhino was after me as it dislikes the red colour. All these I viewed, at that time, with fascination and now remember them with fondness.

In a blur I recall the visit to the Victoria Falls located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. I remember the journey clearly which was made on a narrow unmade road. Of the falls itself, present still in my mind is the deafening sound and the foggy atmosphere.

On a trip to Serengeti National Park I remember peering into a telescope looking for animals present in the Ngorongoro crater. My mother says that there were lots of elephants but I recall seeing a cheetah which could really have been any of the spotted big cats.

I started my nursery in Zambia where I made my first friend there. Her name was Keeta, a Filipino, whom I hope to meet someday.

A year later when I was five, I spent six months in Iran. These were during the days of the Shah. Even of Tehran’s school I barely remember anything except that there was a Mrs Ghote who was my teacher and that we had a huge swimming pool in the grounds. I also remember the snowfall and also a hailstorm.

I finished my primary school in Karachi. Of this I do have faint memories. I used to be reprimanded by one of my teachers for being a left hander. This annoyed me a lot, as I didn’t understand her logic that now I think as absurd. An event which I cannot forget is a visit to my paternal uncle’s home. At breakfast I wanted black peppers with my egg. Black pepper wasn’t available. My chacha got it from the market. All that I had was a small pinch of the pepper much to my cousin’s chagrin.

I will not trade my memories for anything. If I had a complete amnesia of my past it would be a bitter feeling. Being unable to recall anything would be like I do not have a beginning leading me not to accept who I am. My memories are something special, even priceless.

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