Every day in the evenings, we used to sit outside the house on a mat made up of interwoven leaves of a palm tree called Eetha-saapa. We were doing homework from school and study till night. My mother used to sit with us and made sure that we don’t deviate and fully focus on our studies. Soon after sitting for some time, I used to get up to attend nature’s call. My mother used to say, ‘When I tell you to study, you remember the toilet.’

In those days’ power supply was irregular so we depended on kerosene lamps. There were three types of kerosene lamps at home – Pedda-Kandil (Big glass lamp which is called Arabic Kandil or hanging lamp), Chinna-Kandil (small glass lamp) and Seesa-buddi (Mostly used an empty ‘quarter’ whisky bottle with a wick pierced into the cap, was used as a lamp). Whenever the wick length is increased for more light, they used to release lots of sooth. Sometimes when we bend closer to the lamp for enough light, it smelt like burning hair - as our hair already caught fire and we used to rub our hair and carry on with studies. It was fun learning under the light of a lamp and the whole family was so close sitting together.

My mother used to clean the lamp glass every evening with ash from the cookstove and a cloth. The light from the lamp was yellow and alluring. I used to watch the flame with a lot of interest. The lamps also attracted some light loving insects in the evenings. The insects were also interesting. Nowadays we don’t feel like watching the electric bulbs such as filament bulbs, CFL bulbs and LED bulbs. They are boring and are also harmful to the retina. The dancing yellow flame from lamps and cookstoves is more interesting and absorbing than any other artificial source of light.