GRANDMA'S FISH FRIES

It was the last day of the exam. I never craved to reach home like that before. The last bell rang and we all dashed out to laughter and fun. I rushed home to see my grandpa who had arrived to take us with him. We packed our things very fast for the takeoff. It was a long journey in the bus, where we fought to get the window seat to see the horizon touching the natural beauty; lush greenery of the fields, ponds padded with water lilies and river sides where fishermen spread their nets. We were going to our grandpa’s home in the village. This time grandpa had promised us two fishing rods. It was our favourite sport. And we couldn’t wait to reach there. But the greatest surprise awaited us there was our grandma’s fish fries. The very thought of it filled our mouths with water.

When we stepped out of the bus, we found that our cousins had already arrived. Our hearts pranced with joy. Grandma was waiting for us. She was watering the coconut trees with a big hose. We right away jumped in to action, splashing water everywhere and breaking the way of the water here and there. When my aunt saw this, she came running after us till we reach the penance mango tree. It had a branch bend towards the ground. She would seat us on it till we behave nicely. Whenever we did any mischief, we would get this punishment. And we won’t get hurt, even if we fall down from there, as the soil is very sandy. Later, our uncle also comes to join in all these fun.
Next day we woke up very early, rolled up our sleeves and wore our busy hats to go for fishing. Grandpa had collected some worms in a coconut shell. We took our fishing rods and set out towards the pond which was not so far from our backyard. It was then we heard the sound of the fisherman calling grandma. Grandma waved her hands at us and went inside quickly. When we reached near the pond, we saw a row of sweet-smelling pineapples grown over there. We went around it and saw a little stream quietly flowing down towards the pond. Our happiness had no bounds. By that time, grandpa hooked the worms on to the fishing rods. We started very enthusiastically, but for a long time we didn’t get any fish. Then our grandpa taught us the art of fishing. He said, ‘A good fisherman needs keen observation. When the fish comes, he will feel it on the rope. We shall not pull the rope immediately because the fish has just started to eat the worm. We have to wait. Patience is very important. Later the fish moves the rope and takes it a little distance along with it. At that time, we can pull the rope out but not that harshly, so that the hook won’t hurt the fish and we will get the fish alive.'
After that we got a few small fish. Grandpa carefully let them off the hook and put them into the bucket of water. In fact, very cute ones. We counted the fish and thought of keeping them in a small fish tank. We had a collection of beautiful shells and pebbles to put in the fish tank. A little later grandpa shouted, ‘come out of water, children.' Then he showed something long moving over the water a little far from us. ‘It’s a snake!' We shouted and ran homeward with our bucket full of fish. On reaching home it started raining and we all got wet. But we were happy that we could set a fish tank for the vacation.
We went to get fresh. A little later we got the tempting smell of grandma’s fish fries. It was altogether a special day for us. Happily, we went to have lunch. There our grandma came with a plate full of fish fries. Soon our uncle and aunt tasted it and told us, ‘Your fish tastes very nice children.' We saw in the plate some small fish exactly the same size of our fish. Then grandma said, ‘They were very fresh, so I thought of frying them.’ ‘Why did you do this to us grandma?’ we asked. All our plans went in vain. We were at a loss to know what to do next. We went out to wash our hands. There to our great surprise we saw near the water tap a small fish tank in which all our fish moving playfully. We all ran to hug our grandma. Then she said, ‘Dear ones our fisherman too brought some small fish today.' We showed our pout face at her.  It was such a blissful moment for all of us.

 

Comments

  1. Chilhood Memories are the best..

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  2. For a moment I really thought your grandma fried all your fishes! U always bring back my childhood days with ur blogs. Thank u for that.

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  3. Thanks Tindu. You reminded me some of my good old days.. rain fused with aromas from the kitchen.... like your grandma’s fish fry!

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  4. haha..those fries would not have tasted good if they were actually the ones you had caught..i can just picture a-little-you with the rod by the stream..good work tindu

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