And the Princess arrives

I was four when the Princess of the family my sister Anandhi arrived. My brother Ram was already into school and I was the one at home. It was my first experience of a baby at home and what all a baby goes through. Here was an active toy one would wait for every move.

Anandhi short for Ananthalakshmi was named after my maternal grandmother alias Chellamal. She was my grandma's pet from the time she arrived. I guess my grandma saw her replica in her and was always protective and possessive of Anandhi for a long time to come.

  

Ram with Anandhi and me trying to make her smile

Babies at home found comfort in a hanging contraption which was called Yenai. It used to be confusing then as it sounded similar to Yaanai ( which means an elephant in Tamil). I much later understood Yenai is so called as it holds up the baby. Those days ceiling fans were rare. A rope would be suspended from a hook in the ceiling and from a height of about 5-6 feet a soft cloth (or a Saree) would be tied to the two ends of the rope and the baby with some cushioning clothes would be let to lie in the Yenai. It was something like a folded hammock, hanging from the ceiling. It's out of vogue at homes now, have not seen it for decades, but was very comforting. It was a privilege for kids to sit in it when not used by the baby at home. It held an element of surprise to peep into the Yenai to see if the baby was sleeping or awake. It was an art to put the baby in, lift out and swing it. 

If Anandhi was asleep the Yenai was still and out of bounds, as she wakes up the slightest movement could be spotted and one could rush to see if she was awake. A few months old as she started responding, I was very keen to lift her as all adults would but ' no you cannot' was the warning. I remember managing to get to the Yenai as she was crying and the adults were eating and lifting her only to drop her within a few steps. She was fond of two things as an infant - songs and pinching the cheeks if one went close face to face. Anandhi was very fond of a lullaby 'Chinna pappa yen chella paapa' ( little baby my darling baby) which my mother would sing and I would soon memorize and sing. Probably the early songs I used sing (and remember to date), baby sitting her while my mother went with the chores. 

I don't know if liking toddlers comes naturally but these early days for sure influenced my fun way with kids to date, just letting them be what they are and not what we want them to be.

By the time she turned one we had the 'Hum Aapke Hain Kaun' wedding of our family.

Chellama PeriammaVaidhegi Kumar  Periamma
Sury Rajammal & cousins Chakkarai and Sundari

My cousins Vaidhegi and Kumar had their wedding held in our village Arumbakkam (~ 20km from Arcot). It was the most elaborate celebrations I remember as it went for almost for a week. It also combined the Upanayanam of my cousin Ramesh and Anandhi's Ayushya Homam (1st birthday) - a 3-in-1 event. Vaidhegi akka is my Periappa's (father's elder brother) eldest daughter and the entire village came alive as it was the villages' honour to host such a event . So many relatives, elders, uncles, aunts, cousins and family friends congregating and staying for a few days was grand gala fun. All butroos like us were care of our elder cousins. I guess there was pure joy in that chaos and the elders saw it that way and it happened. I don't know if such an event can even be thought of nowadays. I have not been able to locate pics of the wedding event in the village but found one of the couple with family later taken in Madras.

around this time I was unaware that the most free part of childhood was gonna soon end ...