Nikhil's summer holidays was nearing. That year he did not want to attend any summer camps. As usual his mother was planning to send him to one. When he heard he was so angry.
“Amma, why do you want me to go to these camps? There is nothing new and they are no different from school activities. Please let me spend my holidays with Thatha and Patti . I believe athai's children Susheel and Anisha and periappa's son Dinesh will be there for the holidays. We can all have great fun together.” Nikhil's mother agreed.
Nikhil's grandmother always spoke about the great times she used to have during her holidays. The children from the neighbourhood would be there and they would climb trees, pluck mangoes, spend hot afternoons playing indoor games or improvising plays, dressing up.
Now Nikhil's grandparents lived in a senior citizens' home near the mountains. They had a comfortable cottage and had a good mess where the children could have their meals.
On reaching the cottage Nikhil was overjoyed to see that his cousins had already arrived. The children enjoyed going to the dining hall and meeting other thathas and patties and kids who had also come to spend their holidays with their grandparents.
One afternoon when Nikhil was playing on the verandah he heard lilting music coming from inside the house. He peered in and found a lady washing vessels and singing while she was at work in the kitchen. He learnt that she was from a neighbouring village and belonged to a tribe. She helped his grandmother with her daily chores.
Nikhil imagined tribal people to look different, dress different, and speak some dialect and not Tamil. He thought that they either lived in the forest or moved from place to place like narikoravas . But this lady Kala was well dressed and no different from the maid in his house. Nikhil was curious to visit Kala's home.
So Susheel, Anisha, Dinesh and Nikhil decided to visit Kala‘s village. They persuaded their grandmother to allow them to go with Kala. The village was near the forest, the huts were very neat. The boys were playing cricket and gilli danda , while the girls played pandi . The city bred children felt envious. They did not have this kind of space to play. They were surprised to find that these children could speak English and they introduced themselves as Aswin, Karthi, Kalpana and Viji.
Susheel and Nikhil were surprised that they had modern names not what was common in olden days like Marudan, Rangamma , Vellingiri, Bannari or Rengi.
At that moment Anisha piped in and said, “Hey! Do you remember patti saying that her mother was Andalu and her aunt was Kannamma ”?
“Her father was Pichai and uncle Chinnasami ,” added Dinesh “We don't have these names now too.”
The children played with their new friends for a while and after a snack of murukku and tea they said goodbye.
“We will be back next year,”, they said.
