Sunday 4 November 2012

A very old memory.

I must have been around 4yrs old.

I had just recovered from a fever and my parents took me out to Brigade Rd. I don’t know how I can be so sure its Brigade Rd but I just know.

We were walking down the road slowly, looking into the brightly-lit store windows as we walked. One of the shop windows had a lot of toys on display and I struggled in my father’s arms. My father stopped and let me down. There were all kinds of flashily coloured toys on display but I had eyes only for one doll. She was beautiful with golden hair, blue unblinking eyes and long black eye-lashes painted on. She had on a dress made of red silky material.

I stared hard at the doll and then looked up at my father. He was watching me.

“Do you want the ball or the doll???”

hadn't noticed the ball. I looked up to check out it out; it was a big red-white-blue-yellow coloured plastic ball. If I hadn't noticed the doll first I would have definitely been interested.

Then I saw the price displayed alongside. The ball was Rs.3 and the doll was Rs.10. I knew immediately my father was hoping I’ll choose the ball. To be honest I can’t imagine how a 4 yr old could have read the prices and understood. Maybe I was 5 yrs old not 4 but if that was the case then my sister would have been there…I remember clearly there were only the 3 of us. Maybe my father told me it was expensive but that bit I don’t recall.

My father asked me again “Do you want the ball or the doll???”

I refused to answer and stared hard into the shop-window blindly. I wanted the doll but couldn't tell him because I knew he wanted me to choose the ball.

“Come, we’ll go get the ball” he decided for me and we walked into the shop. My father was not a sentimental person. He made practical decisions and bought useful things. I was feeling light-headed[after-effects of fever] and was near tears but did not cry, of that I'm very sure.

I don’t remember what transpired in the next 10 minutes. I only remember walking out of the shop clutching to my chest a rectangular pack containing the most beautiful doll in the whole world. My mother smiling at my delight & my father cautioning me to take care of the doll well are the last things I remember.

She was my first and last doll. 

I last saw her 2 yrs back, leaning against the stabiliser on the refrigerator at mum’s place. She is bald now[my sister pulled all the hair out but she flatly denies it;-/]. Her original dress got damaged when I tried to put nail-polish on her tiny fingers and toes and ended up smearing it all over the dress. She now wears a red and white checked outfit which my mum stitched with some left-over material. She even has a tiny cap to cover the bare head.

Recently I asked my mum about her and she said she had no clue. Seems like she packed her into some carton but can’t remember where exactly.

The next time I go home, I'm going to search for her and bring her back with me.

For a while I couldn't recollect her name. 

And then it came to me....her name is Dolly:-)).

Tell me about your first doll/toy???

27 comments:

  1. Get her a hair transplant too! :D

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    1. First let me find her....I just hope my mum hasn't given her away;-(

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  2. can i say u brought tears to my eyes, reminding me of my one doll... i can't remember where it is now :( but i remember taking pretty good care of her.. her eyes would close when she lied down.. and she was a healthy doll, not one those skinny barbies.. so different from everyone else, and the most beautiful :)

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    1. Awww....my dear Snow I soo get the emotions, when I think of my doll its about happy memories:-)).

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  3. i too had one.. in my memory it remains as a doll with no dress and no hair lol.. I was a violent child you see..hahahh..i dotn remebr from where I got her from but surely remebr her face.... and thats the only doll I ever had...

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    1. LOL I bet it was a stiff doll[arms/legs not flexible] like mine and u had a devil of a time removing & putting back her clothes;-D.
      Yeah we'll never forget how they look huh:-)).

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  4. I had a Barbie, which we called err.... Barbie only :D She wore a green dress, but I guess is now naked but she is at home in Trivandrum. I had another doll, a boy, John. Both are safe. Ohh I just remembered - my parents are moving from that house to a flat...i am going to call them now !

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    1. U had a BARBIE...wow cool..u must have been the most envied kid in the neighbourhood;-D.
      Yeah u better tell them or they'll just throw it out;-(.

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  5. Tee hee hee u remember so much? Mine was called Kitty! She was from Japan :P And I was contemplating cutting her open to find a baby inside ;) ;)

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    1. Kitty from Japan sounds cool. My sister got one later on from an uncle in Muscat. A model doll with baby pink clothes, blinking eyes, arms & legs which cd move and it had a cassette inside it which laughed/cried[when u turn the cassette]. But by then I considered myself too big to play with dolls;-)

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  6. I never really owned dolls, neither did i like one. My favorite game back then was playing teacher.

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    1. Haaa....I loved playing school-school too. The kids have a whiteboard and they enjoy playing it too;-D.

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  7. I had a doll named .. Big Doll! Huh! I was clearly challenged when it came to being imaginative :-D

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    1. Big Doll sounds coool & wayyyy more imaginative than Dolly;-D

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  8. I was very bad with my dolls ... Yeah I had more tan one .. But I tend to get bored with them and give it away... I do rem a goldilocks. My sis thou was like u ... She had a walkie talkie called susie and she v smartly took it to her
    Marital home

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    1. Goldilocks sounds exactly like my kinda doll;-D
      What I've realised is that we get our kids all these toys very early and then are disappointed when they don't take care. What we should do is wait for them to grow a lil bit & they shd want it so badly, then we get it for them they'll treasure it and keep them carefully.
      A walkie-talkie doll eh...coool. If I had one I wd have also brought it with me in the beginning itself;-D

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  9. N all the best hunting for your dolly :)

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    1. Thank you, hopefully it is somewhere at home itself. But at the same time I knw my mum cd have given it off to some kid and is now trying to hide the fact from me;-P

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    2. OH that would be bad... hope not!

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  10. I had exotic names for all my imaginary dolls - never had a real one :(

    p.s. coming back later to the feast of these daily posts :)

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    1. Aaaah imaginary sounds even more exciting...they cd be anything u wished, right:-)).

      p.s: take ur time;-D

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  11. Hi Nancy, enjoyed reading, i didnt ve a fav toy, but remember playing a lot with a blonde haired blue eyed doll, for which we used to stitch frocks.

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    1. A blonde, blue-eyed doll....all of us have memories of playing with one eh;-D

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  12. :) nice post!!! this generations kids are lucky that way!! loads and loads of toys for them to play with!!!!
    n I appreciate ur memory.. remembering the exact colour of a ball, that u did not buy!!! hats off for that!!
    n oh!!! I remember my first doll.. her name is nimmy.. I used to hold her all the time and she had posed with me in all my childhood photos !!! :)
    My grand mom used to dress her(along with me) everyday in a different saree during the nine days of dusshera! :)

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  13. Awww such a cute story...I can just imagine you...a tiny you with a even tinier doll dressed in identical outfits. What fun:-))!!!

    Memories are fading....there's so much I don't remember now but some memories are as clear as ever:-).

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  14. What rubbish Chi !! I never ever pulled poor dolly's hair out :-)

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    1. *Gasp*
      Look who's here;-o????
      Ofcourse u did...u pulled out all the hair by the time I came back from school one day;-/

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