AFVOA Newsletter of Year 2021

Section 6 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 01 / 2021 Page 83 of 123 reaction, beaming from side to side. Remember picking up fresh, organic honey in Panchgani. Generally on Sundays, father took us for a swim in the morning, followed by a children’s movie. Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Laurel & Hardy, Charlie Chaplin films enthralled us. They took us to a different world altogether. They also left indelible imprints on our impressionable minds. On Sunday evenings, parents at times, took me to a Hindi movie. I used to wait eagerly for these Bollywood films and even now enjoy viewing good old Hindi movies. We resided in E3 area with the hills just behind us. We knew that the Eco-System there, supported a lot of flora & fauna. Peacocks could be seen in the wild .At times we have seen huge pug marks in our wet flower beds too. Kids from our area would often jog or cycle down to Peacock Bay to catch a glimpse of the spectacular & captivating view. We loved watching the Sailing Regatta as much as we enjoyed scaling the hill behind our houses. In May 65, inspired by the conquest of Mt. Everest by Lt Cdr MS Kohli & Team, a band of us decided to climb the Hill, which was no doubt an uphill task for us. When it was being discussed whether it should be a boys team or a mixed one, I replied nonchalantly that though it was going to be tough, we girls would not be an impediment. Time, day and date was fixed. We were excited to be a member of the Team. Each one carried a bottle of water, biscuits and a stick with dual purpose-to give us support as well as shoo away monkeys. Much to our chagrin, we girls realized that the Expedition was much more than we had bargained for. We got bruises and cuts but didn’t whimper for fear of being taunted by the boys. We put up a brave front and climbed on. Once atop the hill, excitement writ on our faces, we felt elated and thrilled that we had achieved something worthwhile. From there our houses looked tiny and distant. We espied our mothers waving to us with a white cloth each, cheering us and taking away in a trice, our fatigue. When we returned to a “Hero’s Welcome”, our exhaustion of a hot summer day, just evaporated. What a wonderful day, what a moment of pride for us all---it seemed we had scaled Everest too.