Chandru was a stern taskmaster and a strict disciplinarian.He was like a coconut... hard from the exterior and tender inside.....like a jackfruit with a jagged cover and a heart of gold filled with the fruits of love and compassion. Each member had an assigned task which they perforned with due diligence.Little Nayaki was a victim too and dreading the third eye learnt to perform her duties with clockwork precision.The Krishnamurthys were also endowed with speed in their genes.The mind and hands worked in tandem in this Home Making Factory.
Baby Nayaki was the darling of the house and yet had to work hard to earn the affection.A day never ended without the little girl howling and screaming for help as the other family members watched helplessly.The homework done and the lessons learnt the little girl would emerge unscathed out of a locked room with a bar of cadbury's milk chocolate in one hand, and tears in her eyes.....only to wipe them off and spend an evening out with the same uncle and his friends.She had earned the gift for the day and the tutor cum uncle Chandru was pleased with her near perfect rendition of numbers backwards from 1000 to 1.
Weekends meant longer hours of hard work for the Uncle Niece duo.which included mental maths,practising the art of handwriting ,story telling sessions ,impromptu speeches and lessons on Creative English.Chandru was a mobile Thesaurus and the two would pick up new words everyday.A yawn and a sheepish teary grin was all that she could mange to emote to the curious onlookers.A fatigued kid prayed for freedom but the grim master craved for perfection...and the last assignment every day would be to read a passage from the newspaper and answer the volley of questions.A correct reply would be passed of with an emotionless OK and a wrong one meant redoing another passage all over again.
Greater work however meant more merriment as well.A trip to the Lily Pool ,a drive down the lakes with Puchkas & Aloor dum was her reward and Nayaki loved every single moment of the pampered indulgence.She was smart enough to read his mind and did not mind the rigorous training schedules.Afterall they came in with so many freebies and he was a clever child psychologist.Lucky would also join in the daily celebrations and the threesome would have spent some of the best times of their lives together.The mode of transport was Chandru's Lamby and the dreamy eyed Nayaki still drives a Scooty today to keep the memories alive. ....
