One Box full of Gold Marie Biscuits for You..

    It is not just a biscuit; it is a clue to many of our childhood memories. You would have found this jewel in many of our school tiffin boxes, some ten years ago. The round-shaped biscuits had sixteen holes in the “pi-r-squared” area (sometimes eighteen) and a royal border which looked like one of the ancient paintings or needlework. They were preserved like gems kept inside the caskets, in our tiffin boxes.

    Some of us love to dip these precious biscuits into the tea and taste it. It is interesting to watch this because it reminds you of the sunset in the west, just like the sun dips into the sea. But the sad part of this act is, if you exceed your time under the ocean of tea, only half of your Gold Marie comes out in the sunrise. Usually, we find the parts of the biscuits later when we reach the bottom for the last sip. You cannot forget that smile when you see those forgotten parts appearing at the end of the tea. 

    Gold Marie was a biscuit which coupled with anything. Let it be a plantain, wood apple jam and the worst, even with tomato ketchup (when you cannot bear the temptation), this biscuit was a good companion. Even the crows flying around know the value of Gold Marie biscuits. They may give up anything in the world but not a pair of Marie biscuits in the hands of any human being roaming outdoors without environmental awareness. I have gifted Marie biscuits a few times due to well-planned attacks by these crows.

    My mother always made it a point to hide any newly brought assortments by visiting friends and relatives. Since she returned from her work only in the evening, she was aware that any biscuit packet, which is not yet explored, is in the danger zone because of my daily afternoon search for snacks ("kalla theeni"). I never had the habit of taking an afternoon nap; I never got it naturally. Thus this exploring was one of my favourite hobbies. I would search all possible places in the house for that new tin of biscuits, which I would remember, being brought by yesterday’s visitors. I had to usually give up on that search. Because Amma would hide it in such an easy place to discover so that she is assured that I would never even get the slightest idea to check that obvious place. She knew that I always went for tough places in my search and left the easy ones. What I want to say about this is, Gold Marie was never hidden! It was kept on the dining table, all day, made available for any search engine to find. That was the greatest thing about these biscuits. It was kept in an ‘easy to open’ tin, to be eaten whenever a person is hungry. Many a time, this tin was my last resort at the end of many of such failed searches for assortments, especially Cheese Buttons and Savoury Nuts. 

    Once I had a memorable experience with Gold Marie, as a kid who was in his primary school. My father was then serving as a principal of a school which would take him at least an hour to reach from home (forgetting the time spent at the dozen of security checkpoints within that one hour of travel in 1990s in Sri Lanka). Photocopying of question papers for term-end exams was not that cheap in those days and the schools could not afford it. My father always had to book the Roneo Machine in the city in advance, which was the best option for schools to get their question papers copied. Thus during exam seasons, my father will be carrying bundles of question papers for the day's exams with him since he was travelling every day from the city to the village where his school was. If my father gets late to reach school on time with those papers, literally the students get extra minutes to mug up stuff. If he forgets a bundle, "exam postponed"! Such was the importance of those bundles of papers wrapped neatly and sealed inside green and blue covers. They were quite heavy too.

    In spite of the early morning departure my father had to maintain every day and my mother's disciplined arrival at her college was a necessity, Appa and Amma woke up early in the mornings, and cooked our day's meal together (both breakfast and lunch), made sure that things are fine with my school bag, tiffin box and also made sure that this little one takes a proper bath. Thus, in such a heavy schedule of lined-up responsibilities, my father, on an exam day, when he left home for the first early morning bus, forgot one of the four bundles of question papers. He would have almost reached the bus stop. Amma just then realized that Appa had left this one bundle behind. She knew very well the consequences of a 'bundle of question papers being left behind." She immediately asked me to dispatch this bundle to Appa. I was still in my pyjamas, having my bed coffee (it was actually 'mat coffee') with half-closed eyes. I don't know what instinctively made me jump and run, I still cannot realize. I took that parcel in my hand and went flying, just like a plane taking off. My speed accelerated every time I heard Amma shouting from behind "oadu oadu.. kethiyaa" (run run.. quick). Just when I hit the road, I saw the bus approaching the bus stop from a distance. Ahh... Now it became a race between the morning CTB bus and a primary school student. I knew the bus would wait there for a few minutes within which I could reach, but I was not sure whether Appa is still there at the bus stop. Just when the bus arrived I saw Appa, not noticing me, ready to get into the bus. I had to give an early morning shout, "Appaaaaaa.... Appaaaaa.... Paper......". Just then my father heard me (obviously, it is his son's voice, how can he ignore the reflex?). He got the bundle of paper from me and did not have the time to thank me (I mean a real "thank you"; holding my chin), for he knew that the bus driver was observing through the side mirrors and was waiting for this father to get into the bus. Appa rushed. I came back home running at the same speed, and claiming the success of the mission. Now see what happened in the evening.

    Obviously, throughout the day, whenever Appa saw his students writing the exam, he would have remembered me. Even when he was returning in the bus, he would have been thanking God for giving him a son who could run so fast and shout so loud. He wanted to treat me. The moment he came home, he thanked me and reminded me that because of the help Amma and I did, his students could write the exams that day, otherwise, they would have returned home with disappointment. Well, it did not end with that. Appa really wanted to treat me.

    Appa took me to the nearest grocery shop and bought me ONE BOX FULL of GOLD MARIE BISCUITS. I had earlier seen such a box full of biscuits only in public functions, where a big group of people were gathered, especially when the parliament elections are nearing. I have even seen such biscuit boxes in panthals (tents put up near the road during festive seasons to serve food and drink). It was a surprise for me. I thought for myself, it was worth running that 'morning run'.

    I can guess why Appa went for Gold Marie and not any other biscuit. Because Gold Marie was liberated from all constitutional amendments made by Amma's side. It could be freely eaten at all times and never hidden from this little fellow.

    I was a Biscuit Maharaja at home until that box got over!