Scent of a Memory

Our lake is stinking again and it suddenly took me back to Ambigara Keri of my childhood. It's been ages since I have passed through it but the memories come quickly. To reach Taribagilu, our general boarding point was Tanmadige but sometimes we would miss the boat by a minute. Then the options were to either wait for the next one to come by or to run and catch it at the next stop, Cheenkodu. We usually took up the second one as a challenge because those were no motor boats and Ambigara Keri would be on the way. It didn't stink but had pervading smell of various nets and boats drying in the sun. As children, our task was to be civil to everybody we met on the way and yet maintain the pace. Occasionally we would meet Kariyanna, our favourite boatsman and he would talk pleasantries and we would answer them. But it was our community folks who I had a trouble with; many invariably asked if I knew who they were. It was easy to say yes, of course I knew they were one of our relatives and I had seen them here or there but to place the exact name on the faces...I would blush, they would grin and I would sheepishly admit I had forgotten it but yes, I knew them very much. I think every Brahmin in that place was our relative some way or the other...