Matchstick men

Text by Aniruddha

When we were kids, we had our own CRAB Scientists Association. It had a logo, its own office, projects, 'missions', events and disasters. Some that I remember: Rockets, Giant catapult and Matchstick men.

Rockets:
When we were kids we were (still are) fans of the reporter detective Tintin. For those of you who read Tintin I need go no further.

For those of you who have missed out the joys of being on the adventures of Tintin, a graphic novel hero, there is an adventure called "Destination Moon". Don't smile yet... there a statue of Tintin in a public square, there's a museum and there is a euro coin with Tintin embossed... this guy is a real hero.

Anyway, back to the main plot... Now, Destination Moon is really inspiring. So like true scientists, we hit the drawing board with pencil and set-squares and compasses and rulers. Designing the 8-inch shell was easy. But, how would it lift off? In the age when there was no Internet and no search engines, 5th graders (Class V) think battery power would do. Anyway, we figured that we would not get the required lift (weight-of-batteries and all). The next choice was petrol. Obviously, no sane attendent would sell lose petrol to 5th graders.

But firecrackers? Well, thats easy to lay your hands on and if we could accumulate enough, we'd get a working rocket.

22 number is built like a concrete fortress (but thats another story). And the Terrace was perfect place to create the launch pad. So we started experimenting in earnest. Sometimes the shell would blow up, sometimes the rocket would ricochet around (and we would be diving for cover), sometimes the rocket would take off in weird angles, sometimes when it landed it would fall nose first and be virtually destroyed. But finally, we got it right...
On the big day (till then the project was a secret, at least we believed it was) Dadu (grandpa) inaugurated the launch pad. The launch was perfect, the 8-inch rocket travelled vertically 25-30 ft and then landed safely. If school hadn't restarted (and I was in a boarding school)...

Giant catapult:

22 number overlooks a street. We built a huge catapult with which we shot paper bullets at car roofs and people's umbrellas... most got confused, very few got mad... for us it was pretty funny. This one would definitely have made it to candid camera.

Matchstick men:

By the time we were in 7th grade, we were pretty good shooters with the air rifle. I had this plastic boat about 6-inches long which somehow was always the designated getaway vehicle and I had a wooden cabin replica (12 inches wide, 6 inches tall) that was always the hide-out. We would use colored matchsticks as kidnapper decoys. The distance was about 15-feet and we would get all 10 matchstick men ... everytime... Sakya and I. Looking back... it sounds incredible.

I think we've had a terrific time growing up. Our parents and grandparents let us experiment, make mistakes, be mischievious and generally have a good time.

I don't know how the Sony Playstation and Microsoft's Xbox compares to building and breaking, laughing and crying, celebrating and sulking. If I was to choose...I would choose the live projects of Crab Scientists Association over Microsoft and Sony, I would rather spend weeks trying to get a rocket to fly that shoot at cops in Grand Theft Auto. Growing up was real, not virtual.

I did not have make believe friends in Elmo, Thomas Engine or Dora. Growing up, I had my brothers and my sister... I love them all very much to this day and treasure the memories.

Life is really a collection of dreams and memories. Memories... I have thousands, growing up together with my brothers and sister.

A Short Introduction

Text by Krishnendu KES

As I walked into the building I was aware of certain things. Certain changes that have slowly crept in. Changes that have not been perceptible. But now they are beginning to be flagrant. The unchaging green of the front door with 22 embossed on it has not changed though the freshness has faded over time, more so in the past decade in a rapid decline. The plaster outside was peeling off. The place was sadly beginning to look neglected. But this was bound to happen. There is not too many people left here to take care and ensure the unfailing rock stability that I had come to see, but not always believe, in this place. It was beginning to look decrepit, the first signs of decay were certainly on display, again on the outside.

As I reached and stood in the central courtyard on tiptoe, I looked up at the grills. Almost no one lives here anymore. But the number of grills and separations and partitions have increased everytime someone departed. There was still Manu and Moni living there. And of course, Mama, eternally 440 volts... My gaze came down to the right and saw the meek glimmer of a 25 watt bulb still trying in vain to light up that chamber of Mama. I did not want to look in to see if he was there. I just wanted to test something. I proceeded tiptoe to the stairs. And the familiar voice boomed out, "Ké rey! Who is there?" Some things never change. And probably never will. I was almost laughing as I turned round and walked into Mama's practising chamber.

Ani & Anu (1976, Barrackpur)

22 number

And over the last several years, we set out in different directions. First, it was Jaideep - he went off to Parbhani in Maharashtra. Then, Krishnendu to JNU, New Delhi. After that, Aniruddha, Anasuya & Abhimanyu to Pune & Aurangabad. Finally, Sakya to New Delhi. Soon, Debashis moved to his own apartment.

All that was left behind were memories of our growing up.

We have been overtaken by our unending work, our distant travels, a million emails. And, somewhere down the line we have forgotten the bridges that held us together.

This blog (22 number) is an attempt to relive those memories, rebuild those bridges and maybe create something for the next generation to cherish.

This blog is dedicated to the fond memory of Mummum, Dadu and Dimma.