Some memories of one’s childhood remain etched in one’s mind. Some of them are vague, unclear. One does not know when they became vague and indistinct. And some memories remain only as unanswered questions.

This is what happened with respect to my elder sister.

I don’t remember her from my childhood.

I remember that she was around, but I can’t remember how she looked. I cannot remember how she moved about in the house, how she spoke, nor any specific memories relating to her.

The funny thing is I remember she used to go to the Nathibai Thakersi School on Girgaum Back Road at that time. She had a teacher by the name of Madhav Manohar and because of her fondness for reading, she had great regard for this teacher. Madhav Manohar was a writer of that period. He had even written a novel then. He’d teach Marathi to my sister and was also her class-teacher.

I also had a brother who was slightly older than my sister. He was also very fond of reading and was generally interested in literature. My father was also very fond of reading. As a result, there would be books spread all over the house. Ours was a small house in a chawl. Half the space was occupied by the kitchen. The other half was divided by a wall of books and the rest of the space was occupied by my father’s godly icons, chairs, a table, a bedstead, and again,

primarily by books. Most of his books were literary fiction, including books by Khandekar, Phadke, P.L. Deshpande, Madkholkar and others. The central wooden shelf also contained books. These were books of Nathmadhav which were published by him and had remained unsold. Our house could have been called a book house. From as far back as I can remember, I liked reading books. I started going to the municipal school on the corner. Within a year or two, I had started handling books by Khandekar, Phadke and Madkholkar. Initially, I played with them and then in course of time began to read them. No one stopped me from reading books.

My elder sister was about seven or eight years older than me. She was followed by two other daughters who did not survive beyond their early years. Infant deaths were common then and probably inevitable. All the houses surrounding ours were crowded with children, and the mention of children who had passed away was quite common. They would die before they had been given names. They were referred to as the one before so and so or as the one after so and so.