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My Earliest Memory

I have been tagged by the suave Tulika for this post which is about one’s earliest childhood memory. While I was thrilled to see her post and read her precious little memories with a smile plastered all over my face, but when the thought of the task ahead loomed over me, I  sat totally foggy and clueless for a while.

I wondered about the task of sifting through millions of childhood memories…

But, I am not the one to give up so easily, so I raked up the memory cells a bit deeper and they didn’t disappoint me.

As my heart took a time travel, it paused the journey when I was around 3 year old. Dad worked in a large Central Government enterprise and and we lived in the company’s colony. The colony was a self sufficient one and had a dispensary, a small market, temple, gurudwara and club facilities which boasted of a sports arena, theater and a library for the employees and their families.

I was bright and smart even as a kid. Do I see some smirks? The legend has it that I used to get vegetables from the shopping centre, all on my own, since I was 3-something-old. Yes, the little me would go all alone with a bag and a list of vegetables (No, it was not like 2 kg onions and 1 kg potatoes…. kind of shopping) to be bought in one hand and a few coins clutched in the other.  Retrospectively, how safe it was then for a little child to be on her own for a little while. I shudder to think if the same was done by a child, in today’s times!

The shopping centre had a bakery, a barber shop, a general store and 2 vegetable shops. This was some 250 meters (0.25 Kms) from our home. I would walk as fast as my little feet would take me. My first stop was at the bakery where I’d buy toffees/candies of my choice, with the coins in my hand. Yeah, that was my incentive for helping Mom. After the goodies were safely tucked in a pocket/bag, I’d move towards my next stop.

I remember the name of the vegetable vendor which Mom and Dad frequented, he was called Lachhoo. So, I’d go to this Lachhoo fellow and hand him over the list of vegetables to be bought. He would weigh and put all the required items in the bag and write the prices against the items in the list. In case, some thing was not available with Lachhoo, I would go to the second vendor (he was called Mota, because he was one! And no, we didn’t knew his real name even then). I would ask him for the missing thing or sometimes Lachhoo would tell Mota to give that item to me and like Lachhoo, he too would jot the amount of the said item on the list.

I would carry the bag home, give the list to Mom, who would check and then keep it in her purse and would settle the amount when she went next to the shopping centre.

Mom tells me that once my bag of vegetables was pretty heavy and I was dragging it along with me. Pal aunty, our neighbour saw me struggling on the road. She told me that she’d help me by carrying the bag for me. And I simply refused. I didn’t let her carry my bag despite her repeated requests and continued with my staggering walk till I reached home and Mom took the bag from me.

Later, Pal aunty visited us and was very upset at the way my Mom was bringing me up!

After the initial mundan, my mom never cut my hair, so, I had pretty long hair. Sometimes, my mom would tie my hair like a little Sikh boy (in the pic). Once, I was dressed up in a shirt and a trouser with my hair tied up like a Sikh boy and I went to Lachoo’s shop as always and gave him the list. He looked at me for a second longer. I still remember the knowing smile he gave me and the little me understood that he had recognized me despite being dressed up like a Sikh boy.

A young Sikh boy
No, that’s not me!!

Aah! The lovely and beautiful memories of childhood, I can feel the warmth of nostalgia seeping inside me…. As I continue to smile at my laptop and have that faraway look in my eyes… KG is looking at me strangely as he sips his morning tea.

I am so happy to continue this chain of memories and I now tag the ravishing Richa to share her earliest memories with us!
myearliestmemory

78 Responses

  1. I’m first!!! Yay! And loved that Sikh boy.. He.. Sorry she… Sorry you are soooo soooo huggable. Can just picture you dragging a bag of vegetables home. That kind of no nonsense upbringing is the best way to do it. Loved the post.

    1. Yessss, you are first 😀 Ohho… that’s not me!! Sadly, there isnt any pic of me as a Sardar boy 😐 Thank you, glad you enjoyed the post and yes, I am proud of the way my parents brought me up too 🙂

  2. How lovely Shilpa. Childhood, I guess is the best phase for most kids… Quite a descriptive post that made us picture you buying vegetables and getting them home….cool!

    1. Glad you enjoyed reading this post, Kajal. Yes, without a doubt, childhood is THE phase for most of us 🙂

  3. Well written!
    I remember those childhood days of buying things from the nearby stores. However , I used to use the change to buy myself rewards in the form of chocolates only later in my teens!
    I guess we all need our incentives! 😉

    1. I was given cash in hand to do shopping much later and yes, the left-over change was used to buy toffees/chocolates. But that was after it was discussed with Mom. Sadly, we didnt had Chips and Kurkure and juices in tetra packs then! 🙂
      Welcome to this blog, Danny 🙂

  4. I have one earliest memory too – of trying to walk and end up running and falling down. The thing is, this is so clearly etched in my mind that I am not sure if I can remember something from such a young age! There is a good chance that I remember it from a dream from slightly afterwards 🙂

    Destination Infinity

  5. Oh my! It simply wouldn’t have been safe for you to have done something like that in this day and age. I can just imagine how cute you must have been toddling off to the market buying things. You must have gathered a lot of smiles. Loved reading about little you! Made me smile! ♥

    1. Absolutely. Sending a small child alone anywhere now-a-days is unthinkable. We would be so sick with worry! Wish we can get those totally safe times back!! Yes, mom tells me that there were lots of happy and surprised and proud smiles 🙂 Thanks Kathy, so glad that you enjoyed reading this one 🙂

  6. How cute Shilpa. I can just imagine you dragging that bag. Those were the days when the shops were personalised. We had Gotu’s shop that we frequented. Now it’s all designer – such a waste.

    1. You are spot on, Suzy. Those were the days when we frequented only one shop… one tailor, one grocery shop, one barber… I remember that these shopkeepers even called us in their functions/weddings at home!!

    1. Wow! You did that too, Kalpana! No, I never selected the vegetables on my own. The shopkeeper would select the best and give. If he didnt give fresh or right vegetable, Mom would take it up with him the next time. 😀

  7. ooh! I used to feel so grown up when my mom used to send me to get one or two things from the corner store!!
    😀
    I think my mum grew my hair after I started school.. she used to tie them up in braids and that used to itch so much!! LOL!

    1. I know, it seemed like a huge responsibility. And I saw the same with my kid too. Earlier, whenever, I asked him, if he would get something from Easy Day store, he would get up even from his sleep. Of course, now also he does it but with some groans! 😀
      I can relate to it… the freedom the hair felt after opening the braids… 😀

    1. Shopping!!We started so early. ‘Good’ habits instilled early last a life time! No wonder we love it so much still. 😉

  8. I want to see that Sardarji pic of yours…. and dragging the bag all the way home and still refusing the help… such an independent lady even then. 😉

    1. No sardarji pic. Mom used to make me a sardar till I was 4 or 5. And that time, we would go to the studio to get ourselves clicked. Unlike today’s times, when we think of clicking everything, capture everything in our cameras, sadly, mom-dad didnt think of capturing me as a sardar! 🙄
      Yes, the seeds of independence were sown pretty early 😀

  9. Lol…could totally picture a tiny 3 year dragging a bag of shopping along the road…funny how it was so normal when we grew up to do stuff like that but nowadays it would be considered oh-so-wrong to bring kids up this way! And do we get to see a real photo of you as a little Sikh boy? Lovely earliest memories Shilpa!

    1. I know, those were different times. Of course, now such a thing would be considered outrageous. No pic was ever captured as a sardar me 😥
      Thanks PB, glad you enjoyed reading this post 🙂

  10. Oh shilpa!! such an endearing post!!feel like hugging that little girl who lugged and dragged the bag:) Such a sweet memory, i can understand what you must have felt while writing the post:)

    1. It was such a heartwarming experience, remembering the good old days!
      Thanks a lot Asha and Hugs back to you from the elder version of that little girl 😀

  11. Wow, how vividly those memories are etched in your mind! A three year old Shilpa tugging along a bag of vegetables! Even at that age you were a perfectionist !Curious to see you dressed as a little sardar.

    1. Yes, these memories are the treasures that we keep locked deep within the storehouse of our souls, to keep our hearts warm. Unfortunately, I was never captured as a little sikh boy 😛

  12. A little girl dragging the bag of vegetables behind her 🙂 Love the imagery. Little sikh boy looks so cute, put up your pic too 🙂

  13. You have prompted me to think of my earliest memory… and as if my procrastination is not enough, this is going to be a hard thing not to do 🙂 WHat a sweet memory really… I think the kind of parenting our parents did, did make good kids out of us 🙂

    1. Thanks Veens and welcome to this space. Oh yes, you must share your earliest memory too!! Looking forward to it. Agree, our parents did their best and we definitely turned out good! 🙂

  14. Wow, that was something at 3 years of age. And I just love your golu pic with hair tied like a Sikh boy. You are right! We can’t even imagine the same in today’s age.

    1. That pic is a Google image… that’s not me! I was never clicked as a Sikh boy, sadly!! 😐 Oh, yes, the times are sooooo different and sending a kid alone is simply unthinkable!!

  15. I was with you all the time, trying to imagine a gated colony and a shopping centre and the little sardarji boyish girl trying to bring her veggies bag inside her home 🙂 So cute that was….. well narrated 🙂

  16. That’s true. These memories have all induced a farway look into our eyes. and really Shilpa? Were you that good as a child?I know I was never naughty too but this is going too far.

  17. you were some kid shilpa… ur parents were really lucky (not that they are not lucky now 🙂 ) thanks for starting the thread…amazing idea

  18. “Dragging the bag” I can well imagine it. That reminds me of my daughter who used to take a bottle full of water for her dad to his office ( Our quarters and his office wee located in the same compound). She was just around eighteen months old then. His colleagues on seeing her would offer to give him the bottle. But she would refuse. The bottle safe in his hands, she would run back.

    Lovely post Shilpa. It’s amazing how each one’s post brings back one memoyr or the other.

    1. List seeds planted by parents and can you believe it all 3 of us (my 2 younger sisters and me) we are all into lists!! 😀

  19. When we were young, shopping was so simple and unpretentious. The grocery wala uncle was as a father figure who would take care when we were around. These supermarkets and malls have absolutely no personal touch. I even saw a 2.5-year old with a mothercare leash in a mall!

    1. Aah! Those were the times… when you could trust anybody blindly and had no fear… Mothercare leash!! I have seen it on websites, but never seen anybody using it!! Gosh! The times we live in!! 😐

  20. Awww Shilpa!! childhood evokes fond memories always, your post made me go to the land far far away and think of the good old days 🙂 I can picture you dragging along your veggies matter-of-factly with your hair tied up like a sardar kid and a sense of achievement after handing it over to mom 🙂

    1. Thanks Reshma. Glad you enjoyed reading about the adventures of a little me. Why dont you share yours too 🙂

  21. 🙂 It was nice reading about your childhood memories. You remember what you did when you were 3 yrs old? wow.. I don’t remember much until my primary school days. You must have looked so cute with that turban and a bag with vegetables in hand 🙂 Do you have any picture of yours with that cute turban?

  22. OMG Shilpa, you went veggie shopping at 3??? Unbelievable, sweetheart 🙂
    My daughter has to be pushed to buy some small things from the nearby store…

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