Poorathinidekku Sambhara kachavadam

Though you might take it rhyming with the popular 'Onathinidakku puttukachavadam it is not quiet the same and infact not at all ...Firstly, this is not a profit making venture. This was one task or in another word a service to the people tired hanging out in the hot summer sun on the occassion of what is called the festival of festival - Thrissur Pooram. The whole materials are funded on the memory of a priest who had started this long back. This somehow got stuck due to financial problem and was revived by the priest's family.

Sambharam, for those who are hearing it for the first time is yet another version of buttermilk mixed with grinded ginger, green chilli, curry leaves and salt giving a tangy and refreshing taste and consumed mainly during hot summer to fight dehydration. The cheaply available materials and richness in phytonutrients has added to the popularity of this drink.

Me and my brother would start off early on the day of Pooram to the Pandi samooha madham where we helped Ramettan in setting up a small shade and few benches to make it a Sambharam kiosk. Inside the madham the mix has already come and so has the curd. The Curd will be mixed with water to dilute it is poured into the big vessel . Now the mix tied in a clean white cloth is dipped in this butter milk vessel and 2 of us will stirr it using a huge 'spoon' which reembles the row of a boat more than a spoon. Half an hour later Hariettan came and tasted the sambharam taking on his palm, he licks his hand twice means a perfect sambharam!

There is an event in Pooram called 'Madhathil veravu'(Comming to Madham) Thiruvambady Bagavathy will be brought on the gaurd of a set of 5 tuskers from Thiruvambady temple to Thekke madham. Priest at Thekke madham will perform the pooja for Krishna and this is followed by the famous Panchavadhyam mela. People starts comming in once the Tuskers start from the Thiruvambady. 'Chetto sambharam!' , folks will be running towards the samooha madham for sambharam and needless to say about the crowd at the peak of the Madhathil veravu.

One person will be just looking into refilling the jugs. At a time there will be more number of people than the cups we have and the speed of serving will be some 2 glass/sec!...The fastest of the lot is the veteran himself, Ramettan. He will pour the sambharam with both hands and never seem to get tired.

At the end of the day(noon infact) we just gather around inside the samhooham hall sipping the remaining sambharam. Though tired, a little happiness to share for the day. The smile on the face of the people remains in the mind for sometime giving an extra energy.

Last time I went for this was almost 4 years back. Memories of those days are flowing in like a cool sambharam on a summer day. Work life has already overtook everything. Wake up, man. There is a lot to do!!!!!!

~ let not thee winged days be passed away in vain

ഒരു മലയാള ബ്ലൊഗിന്റെ ജനനം.....

മാമലകള്‍ക്കുമപ്പുറത്ത് മരതക പട്ടെടുത മലയാളം എന്നൊരു നാടു ഉണ്ട് ...
.....

ഇന്നലെ പെയ്ത മഴയണൊ എന്നരിയില്ല ..... രത്രി ഇനി മൂട്ടകള്‍‍ എന്നെ അത്രക്കങു കടിചു കണുമൊ? ... എയെ ...
പിന്ന ഇപ്പൊള്‍ പെട്ടന്നു മലയളത്തില്‍ ഒരു ബ്ലൊഗ് എഴുതാന് എന്തണ്‍ ഒരു തൊനല് ....‍
എന്നല്‍ കെട്ടൊളു ....അങനെ എങനെയൊ തൊനി അത്ര തന്നെ ......


ഇപ്പൊള്‍ അലൊചിക്കുംബൊള്‍ ചെയ്തു പൊയ കൊടി കൊടി അബധങളില്‍ ...ഒരെണ്ണം ഞാന്‍ മലയളതിനു പകരം സംസ്ക്രിതം എടൂത്തതണ്‍ എന്നു ബൊധ്യയി ....ഹൊ ഇപ്പൊലെങിലും അതു ബൊധ്യയല്ലൊ

എന്തു പറഞാലും നീ എന്റ്റെതല്ലെ വവെ....ചെ!!

എന്തു പറഞലും എന്റെതേന്നു പറയന്‍ .... എന്റെ ചെതൊ വികാരങളും ....കൂറചളുകളും ....പിന്നെ കുറെ സാഹിത്യ പരിവെഷങളും...എഴുതി കൂട്ടാന്‍ വെറെ എതു ബാഷയാണു എനിക്കുള്ളതു....

എന്റെ മത്രം മലയാളം.....................

പിന്നെ ഞന്‍ ഒരു കിഡ്ഡു തന്നെ...

Kumaranellur enna gramam

This is my grandfather's house, it is situated somewhere in the boundary of the Malapuram, Palakkad and Thrissur districts though it is basically in Palakkad. Muthachan whom I call ammachan had spent his youth in and around this place. A small hamlet flanked with coconut trees, lush paddy fields and the Nila. I give this small village a special place in my heart, this place is always the same the same road a bit more dusty, the same tall coconut trees a bit more taller, the same bitter moovandan mangoe tree a bit more bend for us to climb over and the same old Gayathris and Nandinis mooing for more hay and grass.

"Edappal...Edappal..Edappal", bus conductor was calling and we rambled upon that bus which will take me to the Edappal town centre which is the nearest town to Kumarannellur. "Ask anyone for Ammuttyamma's house everyone knows that house", Ammachan had told us. The climate is always temperate here mainly because they lie on the other side of the western ghats in the shadow of rain. The traditional crops around this village are aricnut(adakka), plantain, coconut, cashewnut, mango, jack fruit and, when it rains, rice.The aricnut trees are so long, thin and flexible and it is amazing to see the guys who climb the tree jump from one treet to another.

Though the rain is a bit hesitant to comedown there is plenty of groundwater which saves the Onam! There is always jackfruit around Ammuttyamma's house and there is no shortage of chips, molagushyam, chakkavaratty and if nothing the ripe jackfruit itself. Contrary to the popular treat, here sambar comes only after the mambazhakootan, ishttu and molagushyam. These dishes were born and made only by and for a malayalee unlike the sambar which was brought from across the borders

the paddy fields are cricket ground when there isnt any farming going on. With a bat cut out from the cocunut tree branch and tennis ball bought from angadi . The leg soles get tough playing in the dry hard fields. The night is spent on the verandah of the house counting the stars on a clear cloudless sky. I have no words to explan the peace of mind I get when I get to this small, yet a great village

Irupathirendam ward House no 52, ente oru veedu

A weak wood fence and a small wrought iron gate that cranked as I slowly opened it to compound..It is twilight, achamma is there lighting the oil lamp in thulasi plant alcove...when I walk towards the door, the hanging branches of swarnamalli tugs onto my shirt as usual...

In the heart of thrissur town stood the house which was built by a priest of Guruvayur temple and later bought and renovated by KWN Marar(great grand father). A two storey house made of solid sedementary rock quite abundantly and now rarely found and cut from the earth painted pale yellow with lime, black lead for floor and wood for the cieling. A medium size ummaram with some the broken glass panes and bulb less chandaliers hint of the great cricket matches played on this ground. In the pensive mood the easychair and open window brings in peace and cool breeze of the east.

Amma and Velyamma was sitting on the veranda gossipping and at the same time discussing the status of our studies."Appu, sambarinu 4 muringakka venam a marathinte molinnu nee onnu pottichu tha(we want drumsticks for sambar, climb that tree and get me 4-5)" came the call before I keep a step inside.

The drawing room is where the TV is, the cool black lead oxide floor and old regulator less Ralli fan humming over the top . One attractive thing in this room was an old brass plated wooden trunk in achachan's words oru pandara vazhimudakki which is home for house lizards. Once in a month achamma keeps the brass polished, it makes her nostalgic and we do help her in the cleaning.
(To be continued)

Eenampechikku Marappatti koote...

"Eda...what is that small door for? no one goes in and comes through that door, why is that build for then?", asked Ammu. With the mayavi and kuttoosan folklore in the heart, anything mysterious obviously created ripples. This small door cannot be classified as a door, it is about 1 feet long and 45 centimetres wide. This closed door lead to the attic and being very high for anyone to climb in without a long ladder, this door always tickled the restless minds.

It would be around 10.00 in the night, I suddenly woke up in the night following some strange noise coming from the attic. It was much like some heavy creatures are in a duel, the claws scratched on the roof. and after 10 mins of chaos it was silent back again, the lights were put on and whatever was that got scared off. They are the nocturnal, they do not like light and loves the darkness.....

A very interesting creature, a very mischievous little rodent that lives either on trees or somewhere on the roof top. It wouldn't be wrong if I say that this fellow is my housemate now as he stays upstairs up the roof though. Old fashioned houses, if anyone could recollect is build with wooden tresses and girders and over that a triangular roof is build by locking the timbers together. With the brick tiles spread over these, it give ample space for one person to sleep in this build which is actually used as a granary when there used to be farms and cattle. These fellas occasionally nabs squirrels and sparrows and bring them home.

"When the sleep finally catches up they start their nocturnal activities!, Some how we have to get rid of these things", declared achachan. The requirement docs were soon despatched and there enters the Manikyan and his rodent trap.

Manikyan's father was a farmer when there used to be farmlands. Manikyan also does some thakida tharikidas like emergency works at house, climbing coconut trees etc. and one such activity includes catching treedogs and other farm rodents. He was called by Achachan and didn't have to brief much on the issue as he is very much familiar with the house and treedogs. Next day he comes with a big rodent trap which looks just like a mouse box trap but a bigger one and bait is a pigeon is kept in the separate inner chamber. The idea gained applause and was ready to be deployed, but then the small door is too small for this box to go in!. Achan, veyachan and Manikyan somehow managed to push the trap into the attic.

"He He He ....Just wait and watch, this guy will never again make a problem", Manikyan said. So we waited and watched. 2 days went by...4 days...a week....Nothing happened. "Da Manikya...the treedogs are still roaming around the attic and still your trap couldn't catch it?!!", Achachan told Manikyan. Manikyan was asked to take back the trap as the pigeon inside was causing more sound pollution than the treedogs and moreover the rent for the trap came to some Rs 50(A lotta money at that time). So everyone is back to the work or school or kitchen and no one ever uttered anything about treedogs or catching a treedog.

Two days later our good old dog Ugly was appearing unusually excited over something. We followed him to find the same old treedog lying motionless beneath the coconut tree...maybe it was trying to jump on to the tree, but couldn't get hold of it and fell.....


(Eenampechikku marappatti koottu.....pangolin's best friend is treedog!)

As sweet as poison

Time: 20:38.
It was lying around the corner of the big door towards manjamuri (godown kinda). At last it was tracked down, a deadly viper...full grown and looked like it already had its meal and was resting for the day. Achan, Velyachan, achachan everybody came armed with long poles and heavy drumtick branch and they pulled her down from there. It definitely had its meal, it tried to run away but before that the first blow knocked the senses out. Achachan's first blow caught its head, velyachan carefully took the snake outside the house and with achan they finished the snake off. Achan took the snake and put that in a big polythese cover, "It is a treat for the hospital".

Time: 20:00
"Kutti..get a candle from the puja room, the current will go now", amma asked. It was a pleasant weekend and she was making the chapathi for dinner, chapathi for dinner is a treat for us folks bieng a change from the routine rice and koottan and upperi . All the candles were already lit and as a synonym to punctuality the power went off. I took the candle to the kitchen where amma and velyamma are rolling the dough sitting on the floor. "Don't touch that...keep it there and go", amma said when I tried flicking off a small ball of dough. It was dark obviuosly, and I was moveing from kitchen to pooja room, I shivered for a moment....just before I left the kitchen a cold flesh ran over my leg, I could feel the weight and the length of that creature. It went off quickly, I don't know but one thing was sure it was a long snake, it is in kitchen and it is dark in there....
"Amme...snake, I just saw a snake a long one, it went over my legs. I didn't see but it went over my legs", I screamed. "What?!!...Parvathy..Rema..stop the chapathi come to the drawing room. It is very dark and warm in the kitchen" achamma said, she was the first person to react to it. Amma and velyamma thought that it might be some cloth or something like that, which scared me. Still they came to the drawing room...and we all waited till 20.30 until the light came back...

Time: 21:22
Now all are convinced that it was a snake, it was a long and heavy snake and it was a poisonous snake. "Son...are you sure that it just went over your leg? Did it bite you, did you feel any pain?", Amma was literally crying. 2Nothing happened, it went over my leg thats all", I replied. Achamma was tensed up " Take him to the hospital at any cost". So we all went to the hospital, and had a good fun by terrorising the nurses showing off the dead snake in the polythene cover. Though there was no danger, I was not allowed to sleep that night(when asleep the poison spreads in fast!).
After I came home Ammu told me," If snake bites you and you don't die, then you will eventually become transformed into a snake one day....". Nothing has happenend so far to me but, snakes have given me a lot of sleepless nights....I think...I am afraid of snakes!

Rain chaser

Slowly the sky darkened, from somewhere in the north I could hear the rumble...the trees swayed in frenzy, total madness has stuck the nature. It was 5.30 in the evening... Achamma as usual was lighting the lamp to keep under the Thulasi plant in the courtyard, a light that will ward off evil that wander in the darkness, "It is rain that is comming...get inside, the first rain brings down all the dirt and poison in the sky". She kept the lamp under a lamp shade and went back. I still waited outside.
"Ammu..Appu..take all the clothes from the backyard, it is going to rain" velyamma was calling. We took them from the backyard and laid it down on the brick floor, this will absorb the moisture from the cloths. Gazing through the window I could see the end of the horizon, dark and swelling with the weight of rain waiting to be crashed on to the earth...
The wind brought the cool droplets supposed for a different soil into my courtyard. The soil responded to it like crazy, now restless getting the message of its beloved. That made me crazier. "Da Sandeepe...are you coming for a rain chase?", I asked by bro."Etta..I will defeat you and the rain, don't worry", he joked. And we raced out of the house to the mouth of the pocket road. The rule was clear, when the rain hits Lakshmi teacher's house... we run.
We had an extra advantage over Varuna(rain god), we are running down a slope!. We could here the sound of the rain clearly and in a second it was over Lakshmi teacher's house. "Etta...there I go!", we ran and the rain unperturbed continue its conquest and was catching up faster. I knew we weren't any near but just for the sheer thrill of being chased by something mammoth something so harmless..something that is bringing a change in everything.
The cold big droplets began taking over, soon we were drenched in the rain inducing more vibrancy into the spirit. The shower continued heavily for more time, "ha ha ha eda...Velyamma will be waiting for us with the cane", I said. "No etta..she likes hangers", he replied. We walked the whole way up in the rain discussing who will get the beatings first and what lie should we say.
Achamma saw us trying to sneak through the front door."No no...come through the backside door. What is this? where were you?" she asked. "oh...yes..err..we saw some stray cattle going towards Mukundavelyachan's farm, we just went there to check that. But by then it rained", came from me. "Hmmm ... go and dry your hair and rub the Rasanadi powder on the scalp or you will get bad cold". "Yes achamme we will." replied Sandeep when we ran for the backside door.

Let the fear, inhibitions, anger, frustrations, hate wash away in the big rain of love and friendship ~ Anonymous