Both on my mother’s and father’s side, the family wasn’t very large. It was compact, which was quite unusual for those days when large families were the norm. Why it was this way in our case remains a mystery. On my father’s side, there were some relatives, like his half-brothers and sisters and his cousin’s children, with whom we grew a little closer after moving to Chennai. On my mom’s side, she had a sister and a few other relatives. However, mama and mami’s family was always the closest, even after we relocated to Chennai.

I’m told that the eldest son, the one who expertly arranged our razais at night, would often massage my head with oil when I was quite young. The daughter had a different way of showing affection—she would constantly pinch and squish me.

The eldest son also accompanied us on many outings, especially when my family went somewhere. Most of the photographs we have from that period were taken by him. He had one of those old box cameras—you’d have to hold it below your eye level, view the image on a rectangular lens, and then click. Camera technology may have been primitive back then, but the black-and-white photographs he captured remain stunning and clear even now.

Some of these photos are etched in my memory. One is of my family sitting on a small hill-like structure, which I believe was somewhere near Birla Mandir. Another unforgettable photo shows the youngest son—who was also very close to us—sitting on a train track with me and my elder brother lying on his lap. These were truly close encounters of the relative kind!

As the eldest son secured a government job, mama-mami’s family fortunes began to improve. Mama also had a job, though to this day, I don’t know where she worked.

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Continued in 193. Only Ones - Part 3