Funny incidents (Excerpts from my memoir ….)

Well, the beginning of the New Year means one more candle will be placed on our birthday cake. It makes me want to go back to my childhood days when I lived a carefree life. It so happens that I feel like sharing an incident or two that happened to me when I was a child.

(1)    I was six years old and hence in first standard, I was travelling by the train from Bombay to Madras with my Mom in the sleeper class. We were allotted a lower and middle berth. It was a 24 hour journey by train and we mingled well with the other co-passengers and I liked to eat every type of vegetarian snacks that dole out from the train’s pantry. When the night fell, it was time to rest our rigid bodies and I wanted to exchange my middle berth for the upper berth with another co-passenger despite my mother’s protests against it since she considered it not safe for me to occupy that berth. But with a little bit of coaxing from the other co-passengers , I got my wish fulfilled. The distance between the two bars that held the middle berth in position hardly measured my entire height. When it was almost 11 o' clock and a few scattered dim lights lighted the passage, a few of the nearby passengers heard a thud from below. It was the sound of me landing on the cloth baggage placed near the window besides the lower berth. I had fallen all the way from the upper berth but still did not realize it and lay on it unruffled. My mother woke me up and in a sleepy daze I wandered off to sleep with her in the lower berth and continued my blissful sleep. I still haven’t deciphered the reason for my nonchalant behaviour at that time and all I can do is laugh at myself.

(2)    This incident happened when I was in the third standard. We were new to the neighbourhood and it had  hardly been a week since we came to live in the new place . Everything was new , new school, new friends and a plenty of unexplored places in the neighbourhood . My parents arranged a school bus for the routine pick-up and drop, to and from school. It was my first day at the new school and so was it for my classroom teacher as well. After a day of fun, we boarded the buses under the guidance of the transport management staff. I sat in the bus as instructed to me and very soon the bus departed from the school ground. My house wasn’t very far away from the school, by it seemed an eternity before I could spot any familiar neighbourhood landmarks. When all the children were dropped at their bus-stops , I still sat in the bus waiting for my turn . The conductor and the driver of the bus were puzzled as to why this little girl hasn’t got down yet. When enquired, I showed them the I-card which had my address printed on it . They told me that I was in the wrong bus and that they would take me back to the school and hand me over to the school authorities. I nodded my head to acknowledge this proposal as their other suggestions seemed Greek and Latin to me . Nevertheless , I enjoyed the bus trip back to the school as I took note of a few places to visit in that coming weekend. When I reached the school , I saw my mother and my classroom teacher waiting in apprehension for any news about me . They breathed a sigh of relief and the goof up by the transport staff  was resolved  amicably. I became so popular right after the incident that the very next day, a person from the transport staff personally guided me to my bus.

There are many such funny incidents that have happened to me in the past and still continue to occur ….