Kalathiappa Mudali theru

Memories..., some memories of playing in a house in Kalathiappa Mudali Street . Especially the times when we kids used to go to the terrace and talk with our neighbours, Sunila-amma and her kids.
There was a heavy rain once. This house has a long pathway and water had flooded in. All the kids at home (Chechs if am not wrong, they must be Jai -my brother must miss you Jai- his sister and cousin Kutti) made paper boats and floated them.
I remember my mother’s raisins, (soaked overnight) and idli with pachai milagai chutney. She made thakkali chutney rarely. But when she made it, I used to love it and think it must be a special day. I also remember an instance when brother played a prank. We three were sitting down and eating our food. I wanted some water and asked him to pass on the ‘tumbler’ of water that was near him. He whispered something to sis, smiled and gave it to me. I was trying to make out what it was all about. I drank from the cup as I was looking at them. I turned the cup completely towards my mouth. Then looked into it. Oh, no water at all. He gave me an empty cup!
In the mornings, Achan used to gently pull my nose in the forward direction, saying, ‘mooke vaa, mooku thande vaa’, just in a hope that my flat nose will become long and sharp. I don’t know how far this has worked for me, but he insists that I do it for my kids also (both have taken after me :-) he also used to do some exercises and ask both of us (where was Annan and Sangi? Not able to turn my camera around) to do it too. Sis and me did it very faithfully. And he used to give us a bath together. Just unforgettable. Achaa- love you for all this.
Sangi was a baby then. I think I remember an instance of her sleeping in her thottil.
It was 1980. The then Prime Minister's son, Sanjay Gandhi died in a plane crash. I was too small to realise it’s impact but everybody at home watched it on TV. We didn’t have a set then. We watched it on our neighbour’s TV through a window near the stairs. I still remember the white smoke rising from the flames of the pyre.
There was another family in that house. The lady in that house had bottles of candies. She used to give one for all of us everytime we went. Was it Davidson's family? I remember that Davidson lived there. But was he alone or with family?
I dont remember Chitappa staying in that house. But Sridevi was delivered while we lived there. As a baby Sridevi was very different from all of us. May be because of that I remember her. I remember her crawling, but not sure if it was the same house.
All these memories are in black and white.