A paradigm shift...nothing is permanent

- March 06, 2021

Hi friends,

Iam back again sooner than expected, as I would like to share something which will always remain close to my heart. As with any of us, the home where we spend our childhood years will be etched in our minds throughout our life. Wherever we go and settle or go out in search of better prospects or career, revisiting the childhood home stirs up sentiments, feelings of attachment similar to seeing our parents, brings up lots of memories. I still keep having dreams of my childhood home, though my parents no longer live there.

Our childhood home was quite a charming one. It was at the heart of Thiruvananthapuram city and we just had to walk for less than 10 minutes to school. The area was Chirakulam road which was close to Secretariat and lot of other Government offices and banks. In MG road, there were lots of shops of different kinds, and hotels too. There was a British council library, Eloor lending library which we used to go frequently. The college that I used to go was little more far. Our neighbours were Tamil Brahmins, some Malayalee families. The house opposite of ours has quite a big compound that had a clean and well-maintained garden and it belonged to the family of doctor and bankers. It was about 30 cents or equivalent of 5 grounds in area. As we did not have that much open space, my sister and myself used to go to that home to enjoy the vast garden, water the plants there and spend time with the family until we were pulled back. There were lots of rose shrubs, flowering trees, mango trees, breadfruit trees. A family photographer in that house had clicked lots of unforgettable childhood and family photos of ours which we still preserve with great care. There are many more memories associated with that big house and I will have to devote space for them separately. The house adjacent to us was occupied by a Malayalee family. The other homes were occupied by Tamil families. As children , we used to go to all these houses and we were pampered by our neighbours. They were all an integral part of our growing up years. Initially, our home was small and tiled and had lot of leakage problems. Though it was a lovely home, it was becoming no longer suitable to live in. My dad demolished it and constructed a spacious and wonderful duplex home. We happily began our new phase of life. Shortly afterwards, the neighbourhood began to change. The family in the big house opposite to us got into complications and had to move out from there. The hurried and distress sale of that home with the big plot happened later on. It was heartbreaking for us to witness that major change. It was the moment when I realised that nothing around me is permanent and anything can change anytime when circumstances demand. When the family moved out from that big home, it was as if the soul of the big compound went out along with them. It was never the same neat garden again. Different families stayed there, but it was the last place we would like to go. It changed the face of our neighbourhood. Slowly, the families next to us moved out to be with their sons/daughters who would have settled elsewhere.

We stayed on and finished our school and college years and used to go to workplaces from there until myself and my sister got married. After that, my parents chose to move out from there because the old familiar neighbours had gone and the area was becoming more suitable for commercial purposes. When I visited there recently during my stay in Trivandrum, I painfully found a row of faceless commercial offices instead of old neighbours. As sad as it may seem, I accepted it as a period of those bygone years which can never be back.

Some photos from my recent visit .