I am born!

I am born!

Actually speaking, I do not know when I was born!  Mother told me that it was after  the storm. She said I was born in the early morning after the 5 o' clock church bell had gone!  She said it was Edavam Eighth.  She said my star was Uthrattadi, noting of which was common, among all the people in Kerala.  

My first memories are of being suckled at mother's breasts and my having a small quarrel with my immediate elder brother who was also sucking at her other breast as he was of the same as me due to, perhaps, under-nutrition.  I had started walking fast and my mother remembered my walking around the little animals in the house and around, namely, the cats and dog.   By this time, me and my brother used to get small milk bottles filled wiith sugary cow milk which we enjoyed.  We were growing up among the plants and trees.  To a long distance around the house were cashew nut trees bring forth differently coloured fruits along with the cashews. When the flowers came on the cashew trees by January-February we knew it is time for the cashew nuts to come.  First the green stock will come with a small red nut shape on the bottom side of the stock.  Slowly the red little, very little nut shape will become green nut and the green stock will start to get plumb day by day.

As little children we were attracted to them and sometimes we insisted our elder brothers or sisters to pluck them for us.  Even though the stock had become a green fruit and the nut below was still to become a dry nut, at times we were impatient to have them.   Then our elders advised us against it saying 'itu karmangaye ayittullu, veno?' meaning that this has only become a tender fruit only and not ready for eating, but we insisted and they got us the fruits.  The green stock fruit will be not very sweet at that point.  If we waited a few days more the green fruit will ripen into different colours between red and yellow and different combinations of red and yellow, each having its own very special sweetness.  The nut at that point will be very dry and can be taken from the fruit by twisting the nut and the fruit in different directions, that is,, if the fruit is turned clockwise, the nut is turned anti-clockwise.

The dry nuts we gave to mother to be kept and fried when they are in good number or burned in the kitchen fire directly to strike out the inner kernel which we generally see in the shops 'as cashew nuts'.  The nuts are either fried in a big frying for a while when the oil will ooze out from the nuts which is separated from the nuts and when the nuts are well fried they are allowed to cool before they are struck with a heavy object or a small hammer to break of the burned outer cover and take the kernal.  Sometimes, we got the green nuts plucked and 
cut with a small knife and dished out the inner kernals with the beak of the knife.  These mother or sisters  made into cutney along with salt and green chillies which went with the kanji (rice pudding) which we had in the morning. These enjoyments along with different kinds of games played by my sisters were our time passes.  Sometimes, sisters allowed me also to take part in their games.  Me and my brother could not play games with our two eldest brothers as they were too elderly for us and they were going for work.  At times we all including father, played cards or shells or a cutting game using small bits of stick and little stones or seeds .  This happened mostly on Sundays or any holidays when they were available.  Mother never playrd any games.
  

She only made food, cleaned the house, washed the utensils, washed our clothes and kept on telling everybody what other works are pending in the house.  But she did the maximum work at home, 24x7 but everybody said she did not work.  I was always surprised at this statement which I used to hear when elders spoke seriously.  Much later I understood that this is being said to denote that the Lady of the house, did not go for any Government office work or Teaching in Schools.  Work in households were never considered work by the men-folk and those who did those works at times got exasperated by the work load!   

Quickly among the changing climates like the sweaty heat and tropical rains, I found my sisters going to school.   I was getting bored at home and was thrilled at the thought of getting out in the pretext of going to school.  As life moved around my sisters who used to go to school, I started my first strike, by crying out to be allowed to go to school.  I was told, that due to my insistence, father thought of taking me to school as my immediate elder brother is being registered in the school and I may be a companion to him too apart from the fact that all of us including my four elder sisters can all go to school together.

    It was agreed.  I was enrolled in the school increasing my age by one year.   Going to school thrilled me.  I got a set of new knickers and shirt and a Malayalam book and a slate along with slate pencils.  The new Malayalam text book smelled great from the new printing ink, which had the smell of pure ghee!  The School run by the Carmelite Sisters had rose gardens all around sending out the smell and fragrance of the roses.

   The school was a joyful experience!