When I was three years old, my parents decided to send me for learning. The tradition is that a child should start learning on Vijayadashami day, which usually falls in October after the Navarathri festival. On that day vidyarambham (first writing) starts with Ezhuthiniruthu - the initiation of a child's learning by a guru (teacher) called Asaan. This day is dedicated to Hindu Goddess Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge. There was no kindergarten or nursery school in Changanasserry at that time. Children went to an Asaan's Kalari (equivalent to nursery school) for learning the Malayalam alphabet before they went to a primary school.

There was an Asaan staying in Vazhappally. On the Vijayadashami day in 1954, Ammachi woke up in the early morning, carried me to the church for the holy mass and later to the Asaan's Kalari. The Kalari was the verandah of his house with thatched roof. Asaan was an old man with long white hair and white beard wearing a saffron colored dhoti. He had smeared bhasmam (sacred ash) on his forehead and on his bare chest. He was sitting on the floor with crossed legs. A nilavilakku was lit and kept beside him with a picture of goddess Saraswati. Ammachi carried me to him. There were other children also. She asked me to fold my hands, greet him and then touch his feet, which I obliged. Then she gave me a betel leaf which contained a supari (Areca nut) and one anna (Indian currency unit at that time instead of paisa. One rupee was equivalent to 16 annas) to hand over to him as Gurudakshina with both hands and in reverence. The Asaan accepted it, carried me and put me on his lap. He asked me to open my mouth and stretch my tongue, then using Ammachi's golden wedding ring he wrote on my tongue "Hari Shree". There was a large tray made of bamboos with rice grains spread in it near him. He took it, held my right index finger and wrote on the rice grains "Hari Shree Ganapathaye Namaha" (salutation to Lord Vishnu and Lord Ganapathy) in Malayalam. All this time my mother was standing nearby with folded hands. A mother's dream and aspirations about her child start at that moment. I never knew what her emotions were on that day. After the ceremony, the Asaan placed his hands on my head, blessed me and gave me a piece of jaggery as 'prasadam' to eat.

Asaan wrote the Malayalam alphabets using a narayam or eshuthani (long nail) on a palm leaf. The leaf was dry and a knot was tied in the tail. That leaf was our book. There are 53 alphabets in Malayalam. Every day he used to write two or three letters on the leaf. Each student had a separate leaf. Students used to carry a small mat to sit on the floor in the Kalari and the palm leaf. In front of us a bed of sand was spread on the floor and we wrote in the sand with our index fingers. Our tender fingers used to pain and become red. We also recited the alphabets. If we did not read or write correctly, Asaan used a small stick to cane us. During break time, we ran to the compound. The boys ran near a coconut tree to urinate facing north, girls ran in the opposite direction towards another coconut tree and facing south. We wandered through the yard running after dragonflies and butterflies. I still have vivid memories of those times.