Page 4 - MODULE- MY CHILDHOOD

The Second World War broke out in 1939, when I was eight years old.

APJ was eight years old when the second world war broke in the year
1939. So, we can calculate that he was born in the year 1931.

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.