“Nina, see, My mother bought me a new pen”. Alice was waiting for me as I entered the classroom.
“Why do you need a new pen?” I asked her, I know her mother has no money and they are really struggling financially.
“To write the SSLC exam. You can’t write the exam using ball point pen, you need ink pen. My mother sold her earrings yesterday and bought me a new parker pen. She told me, Study well and get a good job and then buy her a new set of earrings”
“How much did it cost?”
“50 Rs. It was very expensive. The uncle who works at the shop told me the nib is coated with real gold!”
“But that is really expensive, By the way, the exam is another 2 months away, why did you buy the pen now?”
“So that I can get used to writing with the new pen.”
“Oh, like that ah!”
“Do you want to try my pen?” She asked me
“Ofcourse”
I took the pen from her hand. I opened the gold colour cap slowly. I didn’t want to drop it and break the nib.
“See the gold?”Alice pointed to the tip of the nib.
True enough, it was gold.
I wrote Nina Thomas on my maths work book. Alice has filled the pen with blue ink. It was a really good pen.
“Nice pen” I told her
“Aren’t you going to buy one too?”
“I will ask Amma today”
Amma and Maria were sitting down on the veranda when I reached home.
“Amma, I need an ink pen. Apparently, you have to write the exam using ink pen, not ball point pen”
“But you don’t have to worry Nina, it is only for those who has something to write. You know nothing anyway” Maria spoke
“What is wrong with you? Why are you picking on me like this?”
“I am not picking on you. I am telling the truth, the fact, the simple things! When did I pick on you? You have fertile imagination!”
“You took all the pens Appa got the last time he was here, Why don’t you send me one of it”
“I can’t”
“What do you mean you can’t? It only cost less than 10 Rs to send it by post”
“I can’t Nina”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t have the pens anymore”
“Huh? There were atleast 20 pens. You can’t finish them all!”
“I gave the pens to my friends. They all wanted a foreign pen”
“Y0u mean, you took the pens from our house to give it to your friends? Have you no shame Maria? You didn’t even give me a pen that my father brought, and you could just distribute it to your friends?”
Maria just shrugged her shoulders and I looked at Amma. Does she even see how unfair all these are.
“Nina go and bring me my wallet. I don’t want you to fail your SSLC just because you don’t have an ink pen!” Amma spoke
I took her hand bag from the top of the fridge and took the brown leather wallet out and gave it to Amma. She gave me 5 Rs.
“5Rs? What pen can I buy with 5 Rs? Parker pen costs 50Rs “
“Parker pen? Oh, Kochumaharani can’t write with an ordinary pen eh? She needs a parker pen eh? Tell you what, when you become a Doctor, you can buy your own parker pen” Amma was laughing and Maria too joined her
I took the money from her hand and walked out. As I reached the main gate, I saw Akashavani’s son coming out of their house. He smiled at me
“Where are you going Nina?”
“Jacob’s store”
“To buy what?”
“A new ink pen”
“New pen? So fast you spoiled all your pens? You know something, you guys are so careless. I still have the parker pen your father gave me. See?” He took the brown pen with the golden cap out of his pocket and showed me.
I didn’t know what to tell him. What should I tell him? That my family is wierd? Or that I am the most unluckiest person on planet earth?
How is Maria doing now ?? Does the friction between you still exist ?? Day after day as i read your posts, I feel as though I have to have a good long talk with your father, mother and Maria
I was wondering how you are able to recollect so well. Then it dawned upon me that after all you would have had a diary at that time and your only friend and a source of inspiration.
You are a model to many, especially those who have been spoilt by rich parents.
My admiration is increasing as your posts increase! 🙂
so everyone has a parker pen either donated by your sister or by your Appa.
I remember dad buying me a lot of ink pens the day I started using ink.i also remember they came in all sizes and I filled them all with ink and took to school.Everyone in class would come over and borrow it plus return it after class was over.it was fun sharing it with all my friends.
Now I am afraid to share things 🙁
U mean Hero pen alle. Green or black bottom, and gold top.
Its been so long that I have used ink pen. I rarely even write these days
Dear Nina,
I have been following your posts very closely from a long time now. I had a disturbed teenage period in my life, and now I am a mom to a 5 year old. My relations with my family are excellent at present. The past doesn’t exist for us anymore and I try to see the positives and move on.
However, I have a 1000 questions in my mind about the way I should bring up my son in Canada. I know the values my dad imbibed in me. We were both good students( my sister and myself) and never got into trouble at school…I want the same for my son. I want to bring him up to respect education, elders, others and values. I am not even sure that you will respond to this post. However, since you are a doctor and one that has been through the kind of life described in your blog, I am wondering aloud, how do you manage your kids? Its only a day after my son got his agenda in school, and he has already come home with a bad remark from his teacher. The remark reads-“Speak to your child about yelling in class”. This is something I had anticipated from him because he is a hyperactive child. I have been preparing him for grade school for over 2 years ( he went to montessori until now). However, despite explaining to him in the most loving of ways, he doesn’t seem to have understood. So today when he came home with the bad remark, I didn’t know how to handle it further. We have decided to put him in “deprivation” for a whole week- no TV, no computers, no trips to the park, no nothing for a whole week. Now if he reacts to this deprivation negatively and harbours ill feelings against me, how do I deal with it? I knoow I am doing this to make him realise the gravity of his actions, and I want him to know that there are consequences to “disobedience” and “inappropriate behaviour” in the class or elsewhere. I am very disturbed today, and I thought you might have some advice on how to handle such situations in the life of a mom!!!
I thank you for sharing your experiences- it stimulates thinking in me. And, I wish you well..
A concerned mom
confused mom ur case is totally different from ninas – nina was a pawn stuck between her parents who was taken advantage by maria
i’m wondering what maria told u when you passed ur sslc – im quite sure it would have been u were just lucky
ente thallaveraleennu chorinju varunnu reading about ur maria…i think i wud have committed some hate crime and landed up in some juvenile home if i was caught in a family like that.
i think maria’s long-standing grouse must have begun with the strong vibes you shared with your dad.
@ Anon(Concerned mom)
Depriving a child of his freedom wouldnt make the child understand. The child needs his freedom and he will learn. Its always good not to be too harsh on them. Show your love towards him. Children at this age are nuaghty and you wouldnt want to see you child acting maturely like a grown up!
The child is what he is. Let him be. Make sure he does not cross the limits, so dont let the limits be too short. Extend it when it is necessary. Hi shappiness is what you must think of at the same time you need to mould him.
I HATE MARIA – selfishness personified.
i guess being the first born(maria), and the next child was you nina and there was a age difference so maria was pampered as all first born are by parents, but when it lasted so long she got spoiled rotten, my brother(first born)and me had similar experiences,he got a motorcyle first, when he turned 18ys and when he went to engineering college,i waited for him to leave so i could ride it i was 16 yrs, but then when he left he removed or dis assembled the bike, into nuts and bolts, every single part away from the frame, and he went for this first year engineering…but i could not fix it up…my father looked at it sadly and said his nature is like that!! selfish ….but too late to fix it…i was in pain the whole summer holidays…looking at the bike in nuts and bolts….and yeaning to ride it..in my small village in kerala!!
hooo nina,…i know how it feels…i still have not forgiven him,,,and our relationship now is almost between maria and you.:(
Hi nina,
I really want to see their expressions when you become a doctor.I think actually your mother and maria are jelous. They know that you have something special. What happened in your life was for good, I think that gave you more energy to face the world. Like Alex I really appreciate your memory power to recollect everything like a daily diary. Good luck. How’s your children? Hope everything is okay with you now.
haha. sounds so tragically funny! to see the parker pen in his hands instead of yours!
I can’t believe that people like Maria exist!!! And to think it was with your support that your mom sent her to IIT. She is the epitome of selfishness and meanness.
One honest question..Your posts are very touching..but are these fictional incidents or truth ???
You know Sarah, every time I read a post like this of yours, I only know that I wish you will be finally rid of all the bitterness of your past and find peace. Bless you!
Ajith: One honest question. Is your question really honest?
I can very well relate to that – I had once as well the idea to write an important Latin-test with a special pen … and when I lost the pen inside the school still before the test, it was a disaster – and the whole test turned out accordingly! I was SO distressed by this stupid and very simple pen – which I had decided would bring me luck – that I had lost all faith in my self.
It is strange how these kind of incidents can influence the way of thinking of a child!
I “suffered” a longer time and went looking for it over and over again … to no avail of course.
so you bought a parker pen after becoming doctor?;.. did they support you?
Revathy: I haven’t seen or spoken to my sister for years.. We have accepted the fact that we were sisters by accident
Alex: Thank you
Maya: It was so weird, I the rightful owner of the pen, didn’t have one, while the strangers were luckier than me!
Thanu: I wrote the 10th with a heron pen.. it was a nice pen.. But I dreamed of owning a parker pen
Concerned mom: In my tagworld blog, i have written why I wanted my kids and what I expect from them.
Abt the punishments for yelling:Do you really think, the crime of yelling deserve the punishment you are giving? Do you think a 5 year old understand all the rules?
have you ever tried to see why he is yelling?
he could be yelling, because that is the only way he can get what he wants.
Visithra: You won ‘t beleive what she told me!
Jiby: My mother encouraged her to be like that. She thrived on divide and rule philosophy..
techno: If my mother did her job as a mother, My sister would now be married, living happily with her kids. My mother wrecked Maria’s life. I think Maria would have turned differently, if my mother raised her well
Ronnie: You have no idea, how much that comment meant to me. there are times, I wonder if I am the only one on planet earth to have hd such a sister!..
believe me, I know the pain of not having something. 4 years that skirt laughed at me..”neh neh neh neh, you can’t wear me” and the worst is.. I still don’t get it, why didn;t I wear it,when Maria was in her college. How would she have known I wore it?
Salini: I was like a tennis ball in the tub of water. How much ever anyone tried to push me down, I still surface! I would say, that indeed was the trade mark of Methran Thambi’s grand daughter
Rocksea: Aha.. ente chanku novumbum chirikkunno.. Adi parcel ayi ayakkum.. I do agree, it did look funny, my arch nemesis had a pen, my father got and I didn;t have one..
Silverine: She was encouraged to be like that, by none other than my mother. Maria had a personal swimming instrcutor, because my mother thought she is weak and can’t swim!..maria couldn’t cook, because the smell made her sneeze.. Maria needed the most expensive beauty products, because she is dark and her skin is sensitive!
Ajith: I don’t know what to say anymore!
Hillgrandmom: For years, i lived thinking that, what I can’t forgive, i must forget..but I couldn’t do it.. All these are eating away my soul..
I love munich: Oh we all had our lucky items.. I had a pink erasor.. that brought me so much luck!!,then I lost it.. oh the truama of losing something that brings luck!!!!
Sujit: i was too broke, when I finished medicine.. It took 3 years before I bought a good pen. I bought a mont blanc pen..