Pine Nuts and Pepper

Some Memories

Pine Nuts and Pepper is about authors experiences and memories somewhere between her babyhood and young adulthood. She was introduced to her native Tamil tongue and lifestyle by her parents and the annual vacation which was usually in the South. All through her childhood, they kept moving to different places in the two Northern States. Each move meant another language and another culture, totally different. At that stage culture was all that she could perceive through her senses, namely smells, textures, tastes, colors, and sounds, and how they combined to build something much more. Emotions and affections ran high in her make-up as she was growing up, weaving a very rich tapestry with sharp contrasts, subtle shades and nuances which she cherish and trying to share with the world today. Besides that which was available to us within our home and outside, the remnants of the British raj were all-pervasive in the little hill state of her childhood. They learnt to get along in the new way of life and add to the old. The many cultures and the task of harmonizing them surely affected their lives and their view of life. The ability to blend and balance the different worlds shaped her and perhaps her attitude towards people. She always felt that shes never totally a part of IT like the others but shes never a total stranger either. That is probably why very ordinary incidents impressed her and stayed in her mind till this opportunity to pen them down. It wasnt until she met Marie and saw her relate to her childhood that she thought others might do so as well.