Appa's schemes . (24) 

          A friend asked this question , raspberries in India?  Yes the orange wild variety  grows near Shillong. I remember Appa saying some thing about  fruit experimentations . Sometimes if they are not commercially viable they are left to grow wild. Once when returning from  a visit to Dawki which is a town on the Indo- East Pakistan (then) border Appa brought a sack of red berries.  As a little bit of sun had come out we were sun bathing. ( naturally fully covered, we are Indians) The berries were also left to dry. Of course we tried to eat it ,we are not angels. We discovered they were coffee berries . Collected from an abandoned plantation. Anyway I can tell you we had a hard job drying, roasting and grinding, only to find the coffee was not that great.

             Another time Appa had another brain wave. He brought a sack of full betel nuts looking like miniature orange coconuts. We had the job of dehusking  them . Who was going to eat these nuts I don't know. How was he going to cure it no answer. I had just began dehusking  one with my crochet needle when I was covered with rashes and had to see the doctor. I don't know the end of that betelnut story. 

                I do however  remember something else. One day he brought a tablespoonful of what looked like pure white mustard.  He left it on a tray and the tray on a shelf. Next day the seed like things were wriggling. Out came something looking like the worm in your rava. Then he tells us they are eri silk worms.  We are to feed them castors leaves. On day one we give them 2 leaves. Day two a few more, day three a handful and the number of leaves go on multiplying. We are feeding them twice or thrice a day. From that rava worm size they become as large as your thumb. Green in colour. We have been changing the container to a larger size everyday. Chomp chomp chomp we have to feed them the whole day  and soon we will be out of castor leaves. One month later we are hunting all about the neighbourhood for the leaves  when they suddenly decide they have had enough and try to come out from their enclosure. Now are we to be overrun by the caterpillars and chased out of our home ? My elder brother had  left for REC Trichy . His room is vacant .So we put the huge carton in his room and close the door. Now they have completely stopped eating. They are in every corner of the room spinning cocoons. Off white  in colour.  Do we kill these to get the silk. Can you do that to something you have taken  pains to feed.  No we let them be. One window is left open. After a few days large beautiful moths fly out. We collect the cocoons. Some 10 years later Amma thinks of making a scarf out of it. But it is too late the experts tell us.

                       The rainy season will be on us again, we better visit Cherrapunji now or more landslides will hamper us. We go as a group of 2 or 3 families. The waterfalls are majestic. I distinctly remember my thought. Why are we allowing all this water to flow into East Pakistan. Mawsynram is the wettest place on earth they say. So we go there too . Maybe so but Cherrapunji wins in scenic beauty. Mawsynram has hot water springs . The water falls into a pool. Some tourists are bathing in it. We  only wash our hands and face. Yes always modest. 

                      Schools begin next week. I am going to class 9. I am at an interesting point in my academic life , the first of the three CBSE years .