Swimming with the Whale...

When I was 11 months old or so, i'd a very mild attack of Polio on my left leg and as a result I'd to undergo lots and lots of physiotherapy... so dad would spend hours taking me to the park on walks, massaging my left foot, making me do several exercises and lotsa other stuff... and i groaned and grumbled through it all...

When I look back at the sheer time and effort dad physically put in to making me strong, it never ceases to make me feel special and kinda 'fuzzy'.

As part of my physiotherapy, I was thrown into a pool when I was around 18 months old and was a pretty good swimmer at a very young age itself... but i really didn't like it much at all. So every evening after our swim dad would take me to the pastry shop at the Connemara Hotel (which was the fancy 5 star hotel where we used to swim... and believe you me for the humble means that we had at the time, all of this was more than pampering and luxury...but he still used to do it... to make me happy!)  where'd i'd always have the pineapple pastry or to McRennett's bakery where i'd always have the apple cake... and then for dinner he'd send me Chicken Tangdi Kebab and Palak (in ashoo-baby-language known as 'leg piece' and 'green thing') from his restaurant 'Serai'...

I loved it!

One of the sweetest memories is how everyday as we came towards the end of our swimming session i'd get treated to a ride... the 'whale' ride... so tiny me would lie on dad's large hairy back and cling on to his neck. We'd start at the shallow end and he would swim above the water but just as we reached the middle of the pool he'd warn me... "we're going down", he'd say and i'd take the largest breath possible and we'd go underwater... with me holding on for dear life as i got dragged below... i can still remember being filled with excitement and glee like a little child... well, i was a little child! :)

And i remember the sheer anticipation of this ride almost every time we took to the pool... which was soon followed by the anticipation of the pastry!

The small things in life... will always be special. And sometimes, even covered with icing! :D