Mad Childhood Memories – Leaving home!

Jaya, my older sister, had a curious quirk in childhood. She would come home from school and pester Dad to buy something she had seen one of her classmates had. Now, this is normal with most kids. Jaya just took it two steps further.

After much pestering, she would get what she had asked for and then… she would forget it in school and come home. That is the way many things went including a pencil box and a fancy water bottle. I didn’t see any sign of remorse when this happened which is funny considering the urgent demands that came before.

So, when she wanted a set of watercolour pencils her wish was not so easily granted. Jaya would not be dissuaded. She had her heart set on it and she was going to have it. Now, Dad has a soft heart. He tends to give in, so he did this time too.

This set Jaya did not lose. She was quite the fine artist right from a young age and she enjoyed exploring her art with those colours. However she had not contended with my younger sister, Sappu.

Sappu was basically a pest. As a five-year-old, she often reminded me of the acquisitive monkeys in that folk tale, the cap seller and the monkeys. What another person had, Sappu just had to have. She was also the youngest which means she was indulged.

Now, Sappu’s eyes fell on the new set of colours. I had not seen her interested in any kind of art but the colour pencils looked bright and pretty so she had to have them. Once she had the colours in her grasp, she refused to relinquish them.

Jaya, usually mild-mannered, was not willing to let go of her precious colours so she appealed to Dad. He in turn asked Sappu to return the colours. Now, once Sappu had something in her grasp she didn't let go. Her face went red as she clutched the colours tight and yelled ‘No!’, showing the beginnings of a temper tantrum.

Now, we were all used to Sappu’s tantrums. She screamed and yelled and made as much noise as possible. Mostly to avoid another episode, Dad said the dreaded words which I think older sisters everywhere must hate, ‘Let her have it. She’s younger to you.’

Jaya erupted and it was a magnificent sight for it happens rarely. She threatened to leave home if her colours were not returned to her. Dad laughed. Jaya must have been all of 9 or 10. He didn’t take her seriously. And the next thing we knew, Jaya was out of the house.

Now, unlike Dad, something about Jaya's expression made me take her seriously. So, I ran out of the house to the gate of our building. Jaya was in such a rage, she had already gone past three or four buildings down the road. Now this was appalling! We were not allowed to go past the gate!

Dad was still laughing, standing at the balcony not taking any of it seriously. But I had visions of Jaya reaching all the way to Andheri Station (which then seemed a long distance away) and sleeping on one of the benches. Yes, I had been watching too many movies of the 1970s. :P

So, I yelled out to Dad, “Daddy! Jaya is really leaving! She has reached four buildings down the road.”

“Now she is near the sixth building!” My running commentary continued. By now, I was highly entertained as well as afraid that Jaya would actually walk all the way to the station. Drawn by the drama, some of my friends joined me at the gate. They added their own commentary to mine.

Dad must have had enough by then picturing the entire building down at the gate, exchanging tea and snacks while commenting on the progress of his runaway daughter. He finally managed to persuade Sappu into giving up the colours. He shoved the colours into my hands and I ran with them back to the gate, screaming, “Jaya! Come back! See! Sappu gave back your colours.”

Jaya kept walking. So I yelled out again and this time I was joined by my helpful friends, “Come back, Jaya, come back!” The chorus must have finally reached her for she stopped and turned around. She looked suspicious. So I waved the colours in the air to show her I was not kidding. Face like thunder she stomped back, snatched the colours from me and went back home.

Years later, whenever I would watch the Dhara oil ad with the boy threatening to leave home or Norman Rockwell’s painting The Runaway, I would remember this incident. :D

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