PALLAANGUZHI, MARAPAACHI, KOOJA AND MORE ...... .....

                                    

'Pallaanguzhi', 'marapaachi', 'vettilai chellam', 'kolaambi', 'vaal uruli', 'kooja' ..... do these ring a bell? Or do they seem to be 'Malayalam and Sanskrit' to you? Have you seen a coffee grinder? No I don't mean the electric one - the mechanical one used to grind fresh coffee daily several decades ago? Well I got to see these and much more - all under one roof at my niece Shanthi's apartment in Thiruvanandhapuram. Join me in taking a nostalgic look at the typical items found in traditional South Indian homes more than 40 -50 years ago.

Our ancestral homes used to be sprawling and spacious and also housed a large number of inmates - more mouths to feed, more hands to help, extra-large utensils to serve all purposes. Come weddings / functions / festivals / vacations, the houses would be ringing with extra activities and religious/festive fervor. With all of us moving out to settle down in  the metros, gone are our houses and with them, all those brass / bronze / copper-ware and the miscellaneous stuff. They have become passing thoughts peeping in our minds once in a while. 

I have known Shanthi's penchant for old items used in old traditional households a couple of generations ago. Whenever she visited relatives or friends in their ancestral homes, she managed to entice them to sell her such 'antiques'. Some were more than happy to get rid of the unused, idle, space-consuming items which I'm sure were elated to get elevated in status as they occupied pride of place as part of her valued treasure! I also know she is a big fan of Ganesha and Hanuman and a collector always on the look out for special / novel looking idols.

I made no bones of the fact that I was curious to see her 'famed' collections in her 'home museum'! Shanthi's enthusiasm too soared - it is not always that you get a genuinely 'interested' visitor. She started bringing down the curios from places high and low or from giant boxes or cupboard shelves for me to take close-up shots. While my fingers went clickety click, I also mentally tried to register her running commentary about each. The collection was really impressive - to say the least. I can admire antiques but am not a collector myself. For one, they cost a fortune and again they need space and maintenance. I had believed they needed maintenance but what struck me as I admired the dull and jaded brass items there, was that they didn't need to be scrubbed and shiny - just leave them alone for that antique look! Cool!

Hm.... where do I begin? Okay, let's begin with 'Vignaharta' - Lord Ganesha seemed to be omnipresent in the apartment - sometimes as a Maharashtrian or a musician, sometimes with his famed pot-belly, sometimes with a structure as lean as a pole, and sometimes as a door handle! They are all yours for scrutiny!

Another favorite God of hers is Hanuman. I am presenting only samples of rare Hanuman pictures. Two of them (on the left) are puppets, the big Hanuman painting on cloth has sentimental value for her. The last one I found to be very unique - Hanuman carrying Rama and Lakshmana!

The array of 'vilakku' (lamps) is really tantalizing!

A peep in the puja room unfolds some really ancient stuff - the wooden 'aamai palakai' (for gents) to sit on, the wooden box which would contain 'vibhuthi' (sacred ash), the brass basket for flowers and of course the bell to be rung during the daily puja (above left in the pic above). Then you have the accessories chiefly used in temples - the small lamp with a handle (with a depression in the center for storing oil along with a small spoon) - used to light an array of lamps  and two different lamps with a number of wicks to be lit  and used for 'deepaaraadhana'  for each deity. And of course the 'karpoora aarti' holder(below left in the pic). 

An interesting piece is the 3 1/2 feet-long special brass 'udharini' (spoon) with intricate carvings (above right). The colorful wooden pieces form the collection of 'Ona(m) villu' released every Onam (below right). They are made by a particular family - from 'Kadamba' wood and using only five natural colors. Collectors can buy one at a time every year, each symbolizing a particular aspect of prosperity.

Another corner houses a collection of unique 'kunkuma choppu' in all sizes and shapes - wooden or brass, heavy or light!

I don't remember anybody at home addicted to betel leaves. But it was exciting to see the 'vettilai chellam' set - the rectangular brass boxes with a partition - to hold betel leaves and betel nut; note - these had keys - so precious were the betel leaves to the addicts! The other accompaniments in the picture are the tiny circular box to contain 'chunambu' and a plate to prepare the 'paan'. And of course the tall 'kolambi' (spittoon). To cater to larger gatherings, the 'chunambu' would be kept in the tall large container (extreme right above). One item that is missing in the set is the betel nut cracker.

'Marapaachi' dolls - typical wooden dolls from Andhra Pradesh, originally made from red sandalwood were made from single wooden pieces. A 'marapaachi' couple were traditionally a part of the 'cosmetics set' gifted to the bride for 'velayaadal' at Iyer weddings - now they have become a rarity. Babies could be given 'marapaachis' to play with - they could chew on the wood which had medicinal values. It is also great fun dressing up the male, female and the kid 'marapaachis' in finery as per our artistic talents; they are also a part of 'Navaratri Golu'! 

Shanthi has a good collection of the traditional game of 'pallaanguzhi'. She told me that the game is known as 'malanga' in Indonesia. She had exquisitely shaped ones - the elephant 'pallaanguzhi' (bottom left) was bought from the US (made in Indonesia)! But she didn't have a brass one (we had such a 'pallaanguzhi' at home in times of yore). Several games can be played using 'manjaadi kuru' (red seeds) or cowries / shells. I remember using tamarind seeds to play.

Old measures which existed before the Metric system was introduced - 'para', 'naazhi', 'aazhhakku', 'pakka' etc. are rare to find now (see pic above). I remember that my maternal grand parents used to have a sensitive balance along with small weights - 'panavada' / 'pavan' (predecessors of milligrams / grams) etc as they used to call the goldsmith home for making jewels for weddings or otherwise. Actually I forgot to tell Shanthi to look for this item!

Two / three generations ago, there used to be joint families. Or at least functions and festivals galore with feasts at home. Huge brass vessels for cooking as well as serving would be found at home. Typical vessels were used to serve specific items - the sambar-serving bucket in the center and (beginning from top left, clockwise) rice server, pappadam container, 4-in-1 curry-holder and 'rasam-server' (with in-built strainer to retain coriander leaves / curry leaves thus preventing inconvenience to guests).

Then you have the giant coffee filter, idli-maker, big and small oil-holders (bottom left) and the 'kooja' (top right). Let me tell you something about the kooja which was a part of any travel in olden days - the bronze pear-shaped container with a lid screwed on to it, has a removable cup inside it. It served the purpose of carrying / procuring coffee from the station for the family during journeys. Later on the thermos flask replaced it. I remember the kooja playing a prominent role in the hilarious temple scene (where the boy-meets-girl) in the hit movie 'Shankarabharanam'. My husband has shared a funny incident about the kooja - as a boy, he was travelling with his father by train. His father had got coffee from a station but forgot to bring back the lid. The train had left by the time the lapse was detected. Nothing could be done to retrieve it. The problem was how to carry the kooja on disembarking - the handle is fixed to the screw-able lid, so with the lid, the handle was gone too. Father used a towel to make a bag - knotted it up with the kooja in it and asked the son to carry it. The lad let his eyes wander around the station, twirling the bag in his hand and ..... 'thud' fell the bronze kooja and .. broke. Father laughed it off saying it was good the kooja was gone too as it was useless without the lid!

Now let's have a glimpse of some gadgets found in kitchens of yore - all of them are mechanical ones. There is the coal 'gummatti aduppu' ('angeetti') (center in the above pic). Then there is the coffee grinder fixed on a shelf - the kids used to take turns every day to grind fresh coffee powder for the day with the home-roasted coffee seeds. A handful of the seeds would be put in the cup on top and the handle would be rotated and the ground coffee powder collected in a bowl placed under it. Unfortunately Shanthi has not managed to get the mechanical cylindrical coffee-seed roaster of yesteryears. The pic on below right is of the metal 'kozhal' (cylinder) in which you insert the unpeeled Kerala plantain (nendrapazham), close it with the lid and shove it in the 'adupu' (stove which uses coal or wood) and take it out after a few minutes to find the plantain nicely cooked and ready to eat. Above right is the old coal-iron which some of you must have seen. Below left is the 'thenga cheravai' - coconut scraper. Most of us still have this gadget at home even today but this one is special - take a look - it has an extension at the bottom to serve as a plate! Cool, right?

Shanthi has an ancient 'sevai naazhi' - a brass one mounted on a tiny wooden table with a wooden press (in the center in the pic). This would require tremendous pressure to squeeze out the 'sevai'. My parents had given me a metallic screwable 'sevai naazhi' but it has vanished from my house as I switched over to instant 'sevai' - don't ask how / where! The gadgets on the left are 'thenguzhal naazhi and Srilankan 'idiappam-maker' - don't fail to notice that they do not have separate plate-moulds but built-in holed-plates! The gadget on the right is the brass 'puttu kutti' used to prepare 'puttu'.

Then I found these novelties - the 'chilambu' (anklet), the 'midhiyadi' (ancient wooden slip-ons), the chimney lamp, peacock door handles and a 'Buddha' lock. 

And these lamps above are called 'kappalandi' vilakku - probably used by vendors frying and selling groundnuts .....

                                 

There is the permanent 'nalungu' coconut ( a hollow brass spherical ball with a few pellets inside to go clickety click) - used for the several weddings in an ancestral house.

                                 

Many of you must have seen the 'kindi' - at least in Malayalam movies - normally when anyone returns home after an outing, they pick up the 'kindi' filled water and wash their feet.

                               

I mistook this item to be a giant puja item for 'camphor arti'. But I was told that this is the item is the 'vaal uruli' to pick up 'payasam' for naivedyam at the temples.

The best creation out of waste (read 'unused stuff') was the artistic center table adapted from the 'thottil' (cradle) which had been bought more than 50 years ago for Shanthi herself.

She has also preserved and maintained the double desk and the two tiny chairs used by her husband and his elder brother. Of course Shanthi's daughters have long outgrown them, so perhaps these will have to wait for the next gen kids!

                                     

These are not all - there are plenty more miscellaneous items. She is into numismatics too - her collection of coins are irresistibly tempting. 

                                             

And paintings too - not Raja Ravi Varma's but good replicas. I felt the satisfaction of having visited a mini museum, thanks to Shanthi. 

During this little verbal-visual tour, I do hope you too will enjoy the sight of some stuff you have never seen / only heard about before or revive nostalgic memories of your childhood experiences!

THE FAMILY MUSEUM

                                 

                        

Everyone has a bit of Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva in oneself; the difference lies only in the proportion of each! Okay I am a creator alright and a preserver too; my husband is an amalgam of all three. Yeah, I don't have the heart to destroy or cast aside my still-as-new possessions. But during spring cleaning sessions, I let my better half take the reins and turn a blind eye so that some clutter would be given a fitting farewell. Still we are proud of our family collections that are preserved in our 'home-museum'.

We have preserved collectibles through the years - I know you have read my earlier posts on them. But what I'm going to speak about now is different - it's about family 'creations' preserved over the years. My family gets excited during every visit as I dig up some interesting souvenirs connected with their growing-up years. They love to show off to their little ones - how it was "When Daddy was little". That's not all - there are similar stuff from my school days still used by me. I have to thank my mom for those as she had included them in my wedding 'luggage'! I can say I have her genes! 

I got to organize all of these treasures together recently when there was complete re-hauling of the various storage spaces during the recent house painting session. 

Take for example this beautifully embroidered table cloth - my name embroidered in one corner.  

                           

This was what I had made for 'Needle-work' class in my ninth grade and it is still in use. 

After the mother's handiwork, wouldn't you like to take a look at my kids' creations for 'Needle work' class in sixth / seventh grade? Don't look surprised - even the boys had to use the needle creatively! Here is their embroidery work.

                               

And look at the scarf each of them knitted in school. Believe me, their Dad uses them for his early morning walks in winter! Well created and well preserved and well utilized! Sorry I don't have the sweater and socks I had knitted in school! Too bad. But the sweaters I knitted for the entire family after my marriage have been put to good use. One of the sweaters I had made for my elder son (when he was five) has been gifted to his daughter and the one knitted for my younger son has been worn by his son. My mom had preserved and handed over my lovely green frock-sweater knitted by her (with all the fancy buttons intact) during one of her visits. She knew I couldn't put it to use as I didn't have a daughter. Neither did my sister. Mom expected me to give it to the next generation kids in course of time. But I'm ashamed to admit I lost it - I mean I didn't realize when my husband had discarded it!

Next let's look at the art work section. As a teenager, I loved to draw faces - that too of ladies. My kid sister wouldn't want to be left behind - sometimes she did come up with awesome creations. Look at the sisters' art works. Don't ask me how I have these 50 year-old gems!

                              

It would be no surprise to hear that we have preserved the drawings and paintings of our boys - even the ones which bagged first prizes for them in their respective group at the annual painting competition for children in CME, Pune. 

                                

Even the connoisseurs ourselves don't remember how we had got hold of them - in all probability, the award -winning entries had been displayed and forgotten and we'd have laid our hands on our children's creations! 

A couple of years ago, when our grand daughter made cute cards for us, we could not but notice her dad's genes in her. We were absolutely delighted to see an uncanny resemblance to ourselves in the first one.

The second card was a drawing of all our four grandchildren - she seemed to have inherited the family's aesthetic sense.

Recently when my grandson was around, I showed him the Nissan his dad had drawn. His instant reaction was 'WOW!' He then asked for a paper and in the next ten minutes finished drawing his version of the Nissan - with the bonnet open! So now I have this father-son creations too.

                              

Next, our literary works. I have a whole file of newspaper 'Middle's as well as articles published through the years - most of them by yours truly and some by my sons. What takes the cake is the detective novel written in Malayalam by my husband at 13 - it was published and won acclaim. 

                                 

My sons proved to be chips off the old block(s) - we have the manuscripts of the novels they had written as school boys but unfortunately their parents were not enterprising enough to get them published! Our sons and their better halves now would roll with laughter reading the stories together and enjoying the illustrations. Just waiting for the kids to grow a bit more to enjoy reading them.

What is really admirable is that there are barely any cuts or corrections in any of the pages - and mind you it is the first and only copy!

Next take a look at our film songs diaries. I started writing down the lyrics of Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil film songs as early as 1965 (see the diary year). I'd borrow film-song books from my friends and dutifully copy them in my diary - no dears, there was no xerox facilities those days! 

After marriage, both of us have been adding to the collection and we now have five diaries. The Hindi songs are penned in Hindi script. As for the other two languages, the same song would be written in Malayalam by hubby and in Tamil script by me (we have an unending dispute about our mother tongue - he says his is Malayalam and I say it is Tamil, though both of us speak the same dialect - Palakkad Tamil).

I have preserved my modest collection of 'paattu pustakam' (song books) sold at the theatres during the screening of movies for 50 paise. 

The interesting part is the song book of 'Arzoo' (Hindi movie) is in Malayalam and that of 'Aradhana' is in Tamil. Most of the Tamil movie song books I have are also in Malayalam. So you can guess that I had spent most of my teenage years in Kerala. 

There are more interesting collections lovingly tucked away as heirloom - like the albums of my sons'stamp collection. My husband deserves kudos for neatly preserving the Progress Reports of each grade of each of our sons. More for being able to retrieve any of these collections at the snap of a finger!

A WEDDING TO REMEMBER

Our housing society was agog with excitement at the impending BIG FAT WEDDING in its very own 'Ambani' family! It was the second and last wedding in the family - everyone had either experienced the lavishness of the first wedding or heard about it from others. And everyone wanted to be be a part of this too. The desire turned into resolve as the hosts visited every house to personally hand over the massive invitation card along with a box of 'designer' chocolates and also informed about the bus facility available from our society.

There was one hitch though for the invitees - there was another wedding in our building the same day. At first we thought our whole day was booked but it so turned out that both weddings were in the evening - the muhurats almost an hour apart - both in two different ends of the city. Some of us decided pack off our husbands to the neighbor's wedding and we'd ourselves take the bus to the other. Some of my ambitious building friends decided to put in an appearance at the first and then take off for the second. Hubby was hitchhiking with them - on my insistence. 

The big day dawned. A casual glance at the newspaper somewhat unnerved me - it forecast thundershowers in parts of the city. Not that I have faith in our Met department but when I'm all excited about something, I am wary of some hitch! Anyway, it seemed a pretty bright December  day. 

The luxury bus was abuzz with the banter of enthusiastic ladies and chatter of excited kids - all attired in their colorful best! I didn't fail to notice the wet roads in parts of our drive - I felt relieved that the rains had come and gone, thank God! 

We landed at the venue well in advance and we were glad we could have a good 'dekho' at the grand decorations. 

As we entered we let ourselves be photographed individually - my number was 12, so you can imagine how early we were! We could collect our copy after thirty minutes. 

The decorations totally floored us as expected and I excitedly captured them on camera - the folk corner, the well-laden fruit stall, the various yet-to-function food stalls, the floral decorations, the artistically decorated stages ....

In fact our group had got split and just three of us stuck together like triplets. We found ourselves a good spot at one of the front tables. The satin-cushioned chairs covered in plastic had raindrops all over - we had to just remove the plastic and sit - I was impressed with their meticulous planning and eye for details. 

Plenty of entertaining shows were lined up - melodious live orchestra  and impressive gymnastics........ 

Soon the bridal pair descended on the venue in their own inimitable style and grandeur and took center stage. The resplendent red-n-white bridal wear of the couple were an eyeful - but naturally! They exchanged garlands and then the groom tied the 'mangalsutra' and the surging crowd blessed them with akshata. More shows were announced. But then I sensed a raindrop on my hand. Oops! We should get going, we decided and joined the closest and shortest line-up for soup. Sensing imminent threat from the dark skies, we proceeded in the queue for the adjacent sweet stall and dinner counter. While waiting in the queue, I kept my mouth and hand active - doing justice to the sweets on my plate. That turned out to be a good move - we barely got seven minutes to enjoy our food. The rains caught us almost unawares - without a prelude or warning. The massive downpour seemed as if the Gods made a last minute decision to descend unceremoniously on the venue in full force. I shoved my clean plate and quickly joined the rest to take shelter in the adjacent spacious hall - but not before getting wet. Surely the bridal couple too would have got wet, not to mention the expensive equipment - cameras, musical instruments, mikes ...... Imagine the hullabaloo as the crowd of young and old, with and without plates standing around drenched to various degrees and the commotion outside as the organizers tried to retrieve the spread laid out even as the decorations were battered mercilessly by the fierce downpour! And the rains lingered on in full throttle for an hour!

We soon bumped into our lost group and realized that they had not had anything except pani-puri and the kids were hungry yet well behaved. It was a good half an hour before people could get something on their plates. My friends brought in a few plates with rice and chana / dal / vegetables and sat down on the floor in their silks and shared their plates. Some shared gulab jamuns / cakes; others shared fruits - whatever they could manage to lay hands upon. I guess I was one of the lucky few to have had a basic meal accompanied with sweets.

I called my husband to know his status - he told me that they had blessed the couple at the first wedding and were on the way to the second in the pouring rain. Another fifteen minutes and the rest of my building folks landed there. I did manage to locate my husband as soon as he landed. They all took a stock of the situation and chose to start for home around 9.30 after attending two weddings and not having had a morsel - with another long drive on traffic-filled, rain-battered roads. Many of them stopped by restaurants and either ate there or did a take-away.

And what about us? The 'bus' group wanted to stay put together and so none of them accepted a ride back home with friends. The crowd had petered out in the confusion and melee. When all in our group had eaten something, the driver was given a call only to be told that the bus was full and had left the venue. We were shocked - it was 9.45 and there was no transport that our 30-odd group could avail to go back to our far-off homes. Even if the husbands were to come in cars to ferry us back, it wouldn't be before 90 minutes. We checked out the parking lot for other buses but all of them had left. Frantic by now, we were cursing ourselves for putting ourselves in this predicament and vowed never to take any means of transport other than our own vehicle. Soon we were pacified by the manager in charge of transport that we would be sent in the bus as soon as it returned. That meant a wait of not less than an hour. We were cribbing about our plight and cursing the torrential rains. Spoilsport rain chose to trouble us again and we sought refuge in shelters - as we looked around we could see how rain had battered the venue so meticulously decorated. 

As we took the bus, we could not but heave a sigh of relief. So far we had been so engrossed in our own predicament that we did not think beyond ourselves. It was during this hour-long drive that we pondered about the feelings of the parents who had painstakingly planned and executed this massive function catering to some thousands of guests who they had personally invited and welcomed with warmth and sincerity. And that of the bride who had personally supervised all the rehearsals of the entire shows, the bridal couple who lost out on the personal handshakes, greetings and blessings from the well-wishers, the tons of photos and reels of video footage they would have wished to cherish ... and the caterers who had presented the spread most of which were washed out and barely tasted. I did not have the heart to take shots of the battered place - such was my sorrow. No words can adequately describe the depth of the hosts' disappointment and grief - all the lavish preparations for their darling daughter's wedding had been so unceremoniously washed away by the uninvited, unexpected, nonseasonal rains - reminding the adage 'Man proposes, God disposes'. In spite of man's prowess, we have to admit Nature's supremacy. As our heart went out to the family, we renewed our blessings for the couple from the bottom of our hearts - the abundant blessings should be some consolation and compensation for them.

Let's not fail to see the silver lining in the cloud - the rains timed themselves soon after the marriage and not before!