The tamarind picker

He was a tall,thin boy with a long face. His upper teeth were big and protruding out considerably from his mouth. He walked with a little stoop. Most of the time he was drooling, and liberally used his hand to wipe it out. He was named Annamalai, but boys called him "Mattu Pallan", or "Boy with Cattle teeth".

The school started at 7.30 in the morning. Annamalai was always late. He used to enter the class only after 15 minutes. Initially teachers used to question him and punish him also, but Annamalai was made of sterner stuff and he never used to budge from his routine.Most of us carried our books and notes in school bags, but Annamalai used a rubber band to bind the stuff together and never used a bag. He was a sprightly lad not bothered much about others.

Annamalai never indulged in small talk or wasted time once he entered the class. He was not a ranker but passed exams easily. He had few friends and during luncheon interval it was difficult to trace him.

I used to be punctual and would always be in the class by 7.30, not a minute early or late. But once it so happened that I came to school half an hour earlier.I was sitting in an empty class room and browsing through the books when I heard a thud noise from the rear of the class room.

Our class rooms were made of individual cottages , built with low walls and fitted with bamboo lattice windows on all four sides.The roof was made of dried leaves of the coconut tree . The class room used to be weather friendly as it kept the place cool even during the scorching summer and it also allowed cool breeze to waft through in the afternoons from the nearby sea.

There was a row of tall Tamarind trees with lot of branches and thick foliage at the back of the class room and I could see clearly what was happening there.I could spot a tall boy standing close to a tree and pelting stones at the tree. I got interested and rushed out to see what was happening. I could see Annamalai standing as erect as a warrior and pelting stones at the tree. I went near him and asked him what he was doing. He did not reply but I could spot out a sheepish grin which explained his act.
He was just plucking the tamarind fruit. As per school rules, the students job is to study and not indulge in hobbies like tamarind picking. Even in those days I was a person with quite an understanding of human nature. I never used to offend anybody but always resorted to the easier course of striking a friendship. The reason was not because I believed in Pacifism but more due to lack of courage.

When I questioned Annamalai,in a friendly sort of way the boy opened out quietly after biting a bit of the tamarind he had just then shot down, and also liberally offering me some of the juiciest fruits as compliment. He told me that he had long experience in tamarind picking and he could get in season time more than 20 to 30 fruits in the morning. He also showed me the difference in various tamarind fruits. There were thin unripe ones which were very very sour in nature. There were also half ripe fruits which are the best to eat. Of course the fully ripe ones are what are used for cooking.

I was amazed at Annamalais knowledge and the skill he had acquired in using stones as projectiles. The boy had from child hood devoted most of his time in tamarind picking. In my younger days I had a weakness for the powerful. When Annamalai asked me to be his associate I could only accept.

Over the next 2 months I regularly went out with Annamalai and learnt the nuances of tamarind picking. During lunch time also my guru used to continue hunting for tamarind. In fact I never saw him eat any meal, he seemed to exist only on tamarind.

In life any happy experience would come to a sudden end after some time. Even the friendship with the tamarind picker hit a roadblock due to an unfortunate incident.
In one of our afternoon hunting a missile fired by Annamalai went off track and hit a teacher proceeding out for lunch, who promptly complained to the Head master. The entire gang including me and 3 others headed by Annamalai were pulled up by the HM.
Luckily Annamalai was the person to receive the punishment of caning, while others escaped unharmed.

After the episode I quietly dropped out of Annamalais company. But the incidence left its own mark on Annamalai who was totally shattered. His gay spirit got broken for no fault of his as the flight path of the stone got disturbed more due to a sudden gust of wind rather than due to any inaccuracy on his part. We could see less of him in the next few months and at the end of the year he left the school and joined some other school, where he could hopefully continue his hobby.

Childhood is a wonderful time built on sand castles and clouds. Elders want children to follow their strict rules of conduct, which they failed to follow during their younger days.The spirit is fully free in childhood and sky is the limit for its expansion. The joy of childhood can never return as you grow older.