The smart kiddo - ME!

Hello! Sorry for hibernating.

Memories of School kid - I was around 5 years old and studying in Rosary Matriculation School in Santhome, Chennai (earlier known as Madras).

Believe it or not, but those days I used to walk to school from home which was about a kilometre and and a half. Those days walking was the way of life and no one ever used to complain. My sisters too studied in the same school and sometimes they would stop midway to chat with their classmates who used to reside on the route back home. Some days I used to walk alone back from school and on the Custin Beach Road, there used to be a milkman's son Muthu who probably would have been around 12 to 14 years of age. I knew him as the milkman's son but this guy used to harass me by pinching my cheeks, giving flying kisses and this irritated me a lot. Basically this boy did this out of affection unlike the ilk of today where some men loose sanity on seeing a kid alone.

One day I made up my mind to teach him a lesson (mind you I was all of five years old). I told my father I wanted a foot ruler which was objected by all at home as there was no necessity for this for a Ist standard student. My father said he would get me a 6" ruler but I was firm and insisted on a scale (12"). 6" ruler cost 3 paise but a foot ruler cost 6 paise. As I was the last in the family, pampered by my father I got this 12" ruler, which ws bought from Vijaya Stores in North Mada Street, Mylapore. The whole night I was having this ruler under my pillow.

Come Monday morning, I was up early and got ready to go to school without any fuss. On my way back from school, I was having this ruler between the tips of my Index finger and thumb moving it up and down and walking back home alone.

A few minutes later the milkman's son Muthu accosted me enroute home. But I was seething with anger and what followed was a reign of blows on Muthu with my foot ruler without any respite and his pleas for mercy was not heeded by me, resulting in my ruler breaking into two or three pieces. I ran home as fast as I could, panting as I entered my house compound and my mother saw me with the broken ruler. She just could not accept the new ruler being broken and what happened next - my turn to get a few beatings for breaking the ruler. But before she could give me the worst I darted to the neem tree and climbed it and reached the terrace.

I must have been on the terrace for about 15 minutes or so, I heard a loud wail and when I peeped to see what the commotion was all about, I witnessed a scene where the milkman's wife was bitterly complaining to my mom about how I had beaten her son. She explained to my mom that all that Muthu did was to seek affection from me saying that I was fair looking unlike him and he could not resist pinching my cheeks. She told my mom I would turn out to be a terror if I was not punished for my behaviour. My mom told her to get lost and seemed proud that I was able to take care of myself.

That night after dinner, I heard my mother telling my father the whole incident and my father told her that a girl should be bold and he was really proud of me.

Though Muthu did not come in my way on my return from school, my sisters ensured that I did not get into any trouble.