7 The long train ride Both ammamma and ammachan were doctors. If I got sick, I got the full treatment. Injections, if my fever didn’t go away. One time I needed surgery. Guess where it happened? In our dining room. It became an operating theatre. That was my world. As I grew older, I started noticing things. During school events other kids were accompanied by younger adults. I didn’t understand the age difference. I did not ask ammamma. I lived in an age and culture where you did not ask questions. You’d never get an answer anyway. When I was seven, everything changed. Ammamma took me on a train journey. This was my first train ride. And that too a long one. The giant steam engine impressed me. I pressed my face against the metal bars to see the engine with its smoke when the train turned. As I grew older, I started noticing things. The other kids had younger adults accompanying them for school events.
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