Page 4 - MM

For reasons I have never been able to understand, a sudden demand for tamarind seeds
erupted in the market. I used to collect the seeds and sell them to a provision shop on Mosque
Street. A day’s collection would fetch me the princely sum of one anna.

tamarind seeds: kind of fruit
princely sum: generous amount (here, ironic)
anna: an old Indian coin, worth about six paise

The demand for tamarind seeds increased in the market. APJ used to collect and sell the
tamarind seeds to a provision shop located on Mosque street. He would earn a mere sum of one
anna which equals six paise. When he addresses it as a ‘princely sum’ – something very great
and valuable, he is being ironic as the amount was very meagre. At that time, this one anna
meant a lot of money to him.

My brother-in-law Jallaluddin would tell me stories about the War which I would later attempt
to trace in the headlines in Dinamani.

Dinamani: a tamil daily newspaper.

APJ Abdul Kalam’s brother –in-law Jallaluddin used to tell him the stories of the ongoing World
War. Later, APJ used to read the newspaper ‘Dinamani’ and used to look for the news of the
same stories.