Before I was Ten

I remember open fields, and ditches that filled with rainwater. I remember silk cotton pod segments which served as boats, and paper boats that got swept into the maelstrom of storm-drains. I remember tunnels dug through soft earth. I remember wooden swords and toy guns and endless 'bang-bang' sessions. I remember one particular tree that my friend and I loved to sit in and have our snack handed up to us. I remember the shady tunnel of a pea-patch where I could sit for hours reading a book. I remember rushing to collect my hockey stick for the season, just to put a ball in the polythene sleeve and 'hammer-throw' it all the way across the ground. I remember the hut that a bunch of us built from branches and straw. I remember working bark pieces into fantastic shapes by just grating them on a concrete parapet during endless walks. I remember messy experiments with soap and water in the hapless bathroom. I remember Binaca animals set in a complete landscape we had built in the largest enclosure we could find -- a teacher's desk! I remember guinea pigs in their cage, and waxy specimens in formaldehyde. I remember the hawkers selling boiled potato concoctions and candy gum from a stick. I remember the haunted house and the stories of what had happened to previous visitors...