Free from School | Page 5

I also gained a lot of valuable insights into my own hobbies and
interests since for the first time in my life I was on my own and free to
make decisions or experiment with ideas I thought worthwhile.
I discovered that I have a great passion for reading books. I used to go
every morning to the library, on my way to Ashok's shop, and pick up
something to read during my free time. My favourite books were the
Hardy Boys and I finished practically the entire series while I was at
Ashok's. I also enjoyed comics like Tintin and Phantom.
Evenings, after I had finished with Ashok's shop, I would listen to the
FM radio music programmes. Like any other teenager, I like fast and
loud music. Fortunately, my aunt Allison visiting us from Canada gave
me a walkman which enabled me to play my music without disturbing
the others. I thought about starting to learn the guitar but my parents
advised against starting guitar lessons immediately as I had plans to
travel out of Goa in the coming months. Letter writing is not one of my
favourite things. However, I was forced to reply to the people who sent
me letters and cash prizes, congratulating me on my examination
results. I was overjoyed to receive prompt replies from several of my
relatives and friends commending me on my choice of a year's
sabbatical. I also realised that you only get letters when you write to
people. However, I still don't enjoy letter-writing.

On Sundays, I used to do a few odd jobs to earn some pocket money.
Like washing the car for which I used to get five rupees from my dad. I
was also the main errand boy at home and I did all kinds of jobs like
paying the electricity bills, buying the rations and so on.
All in all, working at Ashok's was a good beginning.
Field Work Notes: Now Julie Has a Fish Tank
Juliet and Peter D'Souza are college friends of my parents. They live at
Calangute. Peter is a criminal lawyer and Juliet is a school teacher. Our
families occasionally go on outings together. On one of these picnics
during my SSC year Juliet discovering my interest in aquarium fish
promptly tried to get me to assist her in setting up an aquarium in their
home.
Actually they did have a fish tank earlier but the bottom glass had
cracked and Juliet had given it to Ashok for repairs. And there it
remained, in Ashok's shop, with nobody attending to it. Juliet had
reminded me on several occasions about the tank but there was little I
could do other than pass on her reminders to Ashok. When I started
working with Ashok I quickly took the opportunity of keeping my
promise to her.
The first problem was to find the tank. I began searching for it in the
storeroom of Ashok's shop. I found it right at the bottom of all the other
big tanks. I was relieved to see it still in one piece. Ashok and I then
removed the broken bottom glass. We took the measurements and
bought new glass from the glass shop. After fixing the tank, I went to
Peter's office and told him to pick it up and take it home whenever he
could.
Peter came by and took it home the next evening. A few days later I
cycled down to their house to set it up. Once there I realized that Juliet
did not have any material for placing in the tank except a little gravel
which was not enough to cover even the base of the tank. I explained to
her all the essential items needed and she gave me a freehand to
purchase material and decorations for the tank. On my next visit, I took
a few kilos of gravel, a pump, plastic plants, fish medicine, the
undergravel filter, some pipeline, a few regulators, T-joints and a
fishnet. I also took four types of aquarium toys and two shells for her to
choose from.
I started off with washing the gravel, then fixed the under-gravel filter.

I next poured gravel over the filter, and placed the decorations of shells
and toys on top. Then the tap and filters were joined to the air pump.
All this while I was watched intently by Angelann and Miriam, Juliet's
two young daughters, who kept offering opinions or help here and there.
After about two hours, everything was ready. Only the fish and aquatic
plants remained to be put in the aquarium. The task of selecting the fish
for the tank was not part of my assignment as Julie said that she would
buy the fish from a fish shop in Candolim. However, as she doubted
whether live