We bought the new house on the banks of a tank in the year 1980. There was a complex of beautiful granite rock outcrops in the middle of the water tank. During the summer, when the water recedes they were accessible. In the evenings, I and my elder sister used to go there with friends for climbing some of those rocks. As I was small, it was difficult to climb. I was needed to be pushed at my bottom by someone to climb. Over a period, some of the seniors who were regularly climbing taught me to hold some rough places and small crevices with fingers and toes to climb with ease. I still remember the holds, which were critical to grip otherwise I would have fallen on the rocks. It was precarious to climb the rocks and sit on them. Each rock had a name and some of the rocks were my favourite. My mother never stopped us from climbing those rocks. She trusted us and gave freedom.

Initially, as there was no compound wall, the water from the adjoining tank during rainy season used to come and touch our house. We were living just at the edge of full tank level contour of the tank, in the foreshore area. Once it happened that, my elder sister while carrying my younger sister while walking in the water, dropped her. Somehow, she groped in the puddle and lifted the shocked younger sister. Went to the temple nearby so that my younger sisters cloths dried and returned home or else knowing that my mother would have scolded her badly.

The asbestos roof of the new rooms were not appropriately laid by Mr Babu Mestri (Mason), during the rainy days, it used to leak at several points. Many times we need to place pails to catch the drops. Although we had Charminar Brand Asbestos sheets, there was a famous advertisement on the radio, ‘Ramayya enduku chinta… Charminar brand rekulu undanga’ it means Why do you worry when you have Charminar Brand roof? We were worried whenever it rained. We could easily sense the intensity of the rain with the sound made by the raindrops. Sleeping during heavy rains with the sound was difficult.

There were so many types of fishes in the tank. The high density of small fish was always found close to the shore. They were mainly guppies with colourful tails. By suddenly shoaling them onto the shore with cupped hands, it was easy to catch some of them trying to escape back into the waters. Seeing fish in the water and catching them was one of my favourite pastimes. It was not unusual to see the water snakes basking on the sides of the rocks on the shore. Sometimes they used to sleep on the grass on the tank bed. During the night time, the water snakes used to catch the fish on the shoreline. It was like a dance of snakes with the sound of the splash of water, which I could witness in the dim light.

By lying on the grass on the backside, used to watch the sky. The different shapes of the passing clouds were interesting. Some of the clouds appeared like some of the many Hindu Gods and Goddesses too. Also observed the flocks of cranes returning to their nests. The pattern made by them while flying and the white colour of their feathers was always interesting. By showing our fingernails asked the cranes to give their white colour, and observe that the root of our nails turned white, in the shape of an eye.

It was very common to see almost every alternative year someone drowning in the water tank. Especially small children by accident drowned, they were very fond of water. The kids who didn’t know swimming playfully entered into the tank and drowned. It is disturbing to see the children’s bodies being taken out of the water. I knew some of them as a kid, I played with them too. On a Sunday, Mr Rayanna after having drinks made betting with someone that he would swim to the middle of the tank and return. The bet was for Rs. 100. At that time the tank was full. As all the people watched while he was swimming, in the middle of the tank, suddenly at one point, he drowned. Some people called the Gaja-eethagallu (expert swimmers and divers) to find, but they could not find him. He surfaced floating only after three days. We were tensed not knowing where the body would surface, finally it surfaced close to our house as feared.

In those days’ toilets were less frequent. In a house of three to five families, only one toilet was available. So the majority of the men preferred to go out for defecation in the open places. The tank shore was the most preferred place for the basti people. Early in the morning before the sun got brighter the men were seen attending the natures call. Later with more houses coming up in the area and access to more number of toilets people are not found defecating in the open.