Words from a bygone era!

Grandfather was a master story-teller! During summer holidays, we pestered him to talk about his school days. The trigger was enough and he spun a delightful tale centered on his childhood. Set in pre-Independent India, the stories were amusing. Though he narrated the stories in Tamil, his narration was peppered with English words that had crept into the local language. 

Recalling his stories now, the world has completely changed. Leave alone the backdrop of those bygone days, even the words have got erased. Grandfather’s school was so many “furlongs” from home. When he clarified “furlong”, grandpa did it in units like “yards” or “miles” that were equally uncommon! He was studying in “third form” when the most interesting school incident occurred. There was no “standard” or “class” back then! 

When grandpa studied at night, it was under the arc of a “hurricane light” or a "petromax". Occasionally, he got pocket money of a few “annas” from his father. The conversion from “anna” was in terms of so many “naya” paisa! With the pocket-money, grandpa bought “peppermint” (pronounced with Tamil overtones to the word!) or a glass of orange “crush” at the wayside shop. 

His days were spent in Thanjavur “jilla” that came under “Madras Presidency”. He was adept at playing “ball-badminton”. In those days, no one went to the hair-dresser to get a “crop” or a “crew cut”. Grandpa’s hair was combed back and knotted in a tuft! When he ran around the badminton court, it was in his white “veshti” that trailed till the ankles. There were no shorts; “nijaar” and “half-drawers” were rare. His ball-badminton opponent was a big “Emden”- he was huge like the battle-ship “Emden” in World War II. Unlike grandpa, his opponent wore a “Sandow Banian” during play. But grandpa used a mix of “twist-cut” and “touch-play” to win the game! 

If we wasted time during vacation, grandpa insisted we learn “typing” and “short hand”. That way, we could get a “stenographer’s” job at the “sub-registrar’s office”! An affluent person was either a “District Collector” or a “mirazdar”. A quarrelsome relative was someone with a “big prestige issue” who walked in a “right-royal” manner throwing all courtesy to the winds! Well after digital communication had taken over, grandpa asked if it was a “trunk-call” and made adjustments to his volume when he answered the phone call! 

Grandpa was a Cricket enthusiast. He spoke fondly of the 3 Ws of his time- “Weekes, Worrell and Walcott!” He was sure no modern cricketer could hold a candle to his heroes- “Mankad”, “Merchant” and “Manjrekar”! Those idyllic times are gone, never to come back. Not just the times, even an entire bouquet of words!