Chapter 15 - The stolen box of cornflakes

“A cousin is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.”

My cousins, Rasheed and Zahir proved an integral part of our childhood memories.

They taught us how to make paper frogs and quack quacks. We would take turns pushing each other up their drive way in a broken red cart with wheels. We didn't do anything untoward and yet, Papa took that way from us too.

Once I turned nine he forbade us from playing with them. For him, it was a case of it being Haraam. And I get that. But I was a long way from getting my periods, my breast and my chest were in alignment and the only place hair was sprouting from in grass like patches, was my head.

I don’t think Papa heard of the concept ‘forbidden fruit’ and like everything else that Papa forbade; we took to doing it behind his back.

We spent hours at the park, letting our hair caress the ground as our legs swayed in motion with the swing. We used the extra room outside as ‘the Clubhouse’. We called our selves ‘The rascals of the round table’ (we had an actual round table in our clubhouse). At night we would sneak into Daddi’s grocery cabinet, steal an open box of honey coated cornflakes and run back into our den.

If the kitchen door was open, Zahir would sneak into my room and shake me awake. Some mornings I woke up to him peering over my face. I’d never scream, knowing that if I did, Papa would find out.

We got caught several times and Papa would reprimand us severely thereafter. I wasn’t sure which was worst, Papa’s (never ending) bark or his bite.

We would spend hours playing ‘Ung-goosh.’ None of our class friends had heard of this game before and so we began sharing with them the rules of our special game.

It’s pretty simple. Like the game red rover, you need people standing on either side of the field (we played it in our old backyard which could barely be constituted as a field).

1.       There must be an equal number of players. For eg: If there are 3 players on the one side there needs to be 3 players on the other end as well.

2.       You need a soccer ball, preferably one that is not pap (soft) but that worked for us too.

3.       One team has to throw the ball and the other has to kick the ball. It’s a lot like cricket the difference being your feet is the bat. Your name is called (by the throwing team) the ball is tossed in your direction and you have to kick. If the opposite team catches the ball before it touches the ground the entire team is out. If the ball is thrown at you whilst you’re making a run (yes, you can make runs) you’re out.

4.       A stick is placed a little closer (to the team kicking) than halfway. If the ball is not kicked further than this line the person who kicked the ball is out.

5.       Most importantly, every time you kick the ball or make a run (which you can only do after you have kicked the ball) you are required to say ‘ung-gush’ if you somehow forget to say it and are blasted by the throwing team you are out. 

This is how we spent our holidays when we weren't away. Filling it with memories that have neither faded nor diminished in worth.