Very early (and hazy) memories

I have very few, if any, memories of my baby-hood and childhood. I was born when my father was posted to Kolkata (or Calcutta in those days). We lived in a railway colony in a place called Garden Reach. Garden Reach was on the west bank of the Hooghly River and I have vague memories of living in a fairly high floor (like higher than the 2nd floor). I remember hearing the honking of ships that navigated on the river. My mother used to tell me some stories about relatives that used to frequently visit us like my Vittal uncle or my cousin, Prakash Rao. Apart from this, I don't recall anything of my life in Kolkata. One story that my mother used to like relating more than once is about how I used to try to comb my great-grandmother's "hair". This was during a visit to Bengaluru when I was a tiny kid/infant. It seems that I used to observe my mother brushing her hair with the comb and wanted to try doing it too. My great-grandmother was widowed by then and going by traditional Hindu customs prevalent at that time, she was forced to shave off the hair on her head. The justification of this abhorrent tradition was that it would make the woman unattractive to other men which would prevent any thoughts of remarriage. Anyway, in spite of her not having any hair, it seems I would take a comb and try to brush her "hair" while she was lying down or sleeping which would make her laugh!