(continued from Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3)
Unlike us, my relatives in Kollam lived in large homes with plenty of rooms. Everyone had a front yard where we could run around and play. They grew flowers in their garden. They had people around them: families and extended families. Even the neighbours seemed friendly. If strangers met you on the road, they wanted to know who you were, which family you came from. It was nice.
These were my impressions as a child. The idea of rural life developed from these vacations and the train journey was part of it. Life slowed down while we were vacationing. Our village streets weren’t always crowded or milling with people or buses or autorickshaws. It could be empty and quiet. Movies before the KJ and SRK eras were often set in rural places. Their social structures, stories, conflicts also left impressions of rural social life.