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I can vaguely remember that I was bed-ridden with chickenpox at the age of 4. My grandfather(mother's father) used to take care of me, my brother Santhanam and my sister Pushpa who were all affected by chickenpox at the same time. Raghu was just an year old at that time and so my mother could hardly spare any time for us. My grandpa was a very affectionate person who stayed awake in the nights to make hot water and horlicks for us with the help of 'kumutti aduppu', a sort of chulha. I can never forget the love and affection he showered on us. I was also very fond of him as he was the only grandparent alive at that time. He used to stay with us and his son (Seema mama) alternatively. The days at Pollachi with him are still fresh in my memory. He used to take me to the Friday 'sandhai', a weekly market and buy me the big peppermint . He always gave me the packet and asked me to distribute among my brothers and sisters. My siblings used to scold my grandpa for that as I was greedy at that time and never used to open the pack for the fear of emptying it by giving to others! We used to go to the famous Pollachi sandhai once a while (Remember the song "Manapparai madu katti..' from 'Makkalai Petra Magarasi'). It was on Thursdays. He had a great flair for narrating stories. He used to tell 4,5 stories (all having good morals) daily. Though he repeated them often, we were never tired of hearing them again and again. Maybe that is the reason that I can narrate them even now in the same way as my grandpa.
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