Yesterday we had a visit from some family friends. My family lived in Kuwait for a while – dad lived there for 29 years, mom 18 (just after she got married to dad) and my sister lived there for 15 years while I as born there and lived there until I was 11. In our building we had a lot of Malayalee families (each apartment was a 2 bedroom, 1 bath with a small kitchen and a living room) and a couple of other Indian families, 1 Pakistani and 1 Egyptian family. We were close with a lot of them, the committee had frequent parties in one flat or the other and then we had the always awesome parties with lots of games for kids & adults alike on the roof top terraces, followed by movies shown on a projector.
My family moved back to India in 1987 and my closeness with my friends and neighbours were quickly replaced by my cousins, uncles & aunts. There were a few that we kept in touch with but as I grew older I made my own friends and my circle didn’t include these people, though my parents were still close. However a couple of the families have remained close with us. Sometimes a few things will remind me of the good ole times we had back in Kuwait. Like just a few weeks ago I was watching 101 Dalmatians (the 1961 animated film) and I suddenly remembered that the first and only other time that I had watched this film was back in Kuwait.
I, along with a few other kids, were at this Goan families apartment for a kid’s movie day and their mom put on 101 Dalmations & then Dumbo for us. She also made popcorn for us kids and I remember that was the first time I had someone make popcorn in a microwave for me. I had only had pre-popped popcorn before that. I could even smell the popcorn when I was flooded by the memories of that day. Odd how things remind you of a memory from ages ago.