Vishu memoirs ( വിഷു ഓര്‍മ്മകള്‍ )

Uma insists that I must make a revelation on my Vishu memoirs. She is right. So, I must.
You know Vishu is just over. Infact I wanted to write atleast on the Vishu day. But it all went awry.
Today is Thursday, 16th April. Vishu was on 14th April, Tuesday. So I drive my memories back to my teens (in the sixtees !).
Ethrayo Vishu kazhinjirikkunnu . Oro vishuvum oro anubhavangalaayirunnu, aa cheruppa kaalathengilum. Ippozhum, vishu prathyekaanubhavangalude naalukal thanne aanu. pakshe, aadyakkaala vishukalude madura maadhuryam innundo ennu samsayam. enthaayalum ente 13-23 vayasu kaalathulla vishu ... aahhaaa.. oronnum oro prathyekathakalaal pacha picha (neela niranjathu ! ) ormakalaal innum manassil niranju nilkkunnu.

{ ഇന്ന് വിഷു കഴിഞ്ഞിരിക്കുന്നു . ഓരോ വിഷുവും ഓരോ അനുഭവങ്ങളായിരുന്നു, ആ ചെറുപ്പ കാലത്തെന്കിലുമ്. ഇപ്പോഴും, വിഷു പ്രത്യേകാനുഭവങ്ങളുടെ നാളുകള്‍ തന്നെ ആണ്. പക്ഷെ, ആദ്യകാല വിഷുകളുടെ മധുര മാധുര്യം ഇന്നുണ്ടോ എന്ന് സംശയം. എന്തായാലും എന്ടെ 13-23 വയസ് കാലത്തുള്ള വിഷു ... ആഹഹാ.. ഓരോന്നും ഓരോ പ്രത്യേകതകളാല്‍ പച്ച പിഡിച (നീല നിറഞ്ഞത്‌ ! ) ഓര്‍മകളാല്‍ ഇന്നും മനസ്സില്‍ നിറഞ്ഞു നില്ക്കുന്നു. }

It was in the summer holidays of my seventh standard. I was 13. Being vacation time, my main activity was to roam round the home and compound. I didn't have many friends. The one or two I had were all away ...( I don't remember exactly how and why ...). Being a very large compound, I used to go far from the house. At the western end of our compound, there was a small "pura", which was used to store fire wood, agricultural produces like "chena, chempu, kaachil".... and of those sorts, and the tools. The pura was infact a two room shed (with thatched roofing ), one with agri stuff was locked, and the other with filewood and implements was normally not locked (but with proper door). There was also a narrow verandah streching along the pair of rooms. This pura was mainly visited by the agri labourers doing work in our compound to take their implements. { Note that this is not the 'uralppura' which used to be there those days. Uralppura used to be ruled by the servant girls/ladies, for their domestic work. ).
We used to call this pura as 'padinjareppura' (means western house). Padinjareppura is away from the house, and could not be seen from the house. It would take a few minutes walk to reach this pura. This pura is the store room for agri produces (those strored over a season time). This room had its floor non-cemented. It had loose sand on the floor (as 'the agri stuff were stacked on this dry sand). The other room and verandah had cemented floor.

Those days, we had a lady (we call her 'mooppathy' ) to do external domestic work (like sweeping the courtyards, washing cloths, fetching firewood, and other domestic tasks. She used to be there full day time. I remember, those days, she was not just a servant, but even had a command over the children of the house. We were supposed to obey Mooppathy, as she had the responsibility to take care of children and other family elements. Whenever Mooppathy is sick (that includes the periodic untouchability !) or gone elsewhere for ( ? ) she would depute her daughter 'Kamala' for the work. So, Kamala too was an in-person in our family.
Kamala was a short and stout girl ( may be about 16-18 of age that time ). She used to wear a paavaada and long blouse (both made of cotton printed cloth "cheetty thuni"). Ofcourse, there were the inner stuff. A bodice with tied front panels. And a thaar under the paavaada. When she does some work, like sweeping or washing, she would pull up her paavaada bottom and tuck on the waist band, in the front (that's on her belly ). This would expose her legs down the knees. The thaar mundu tips , triangular, were down below the knees , and so we could see the thaar partially.
Kamala had big bulbous boobs. In her bodice, the boobs would look quite bulky, but certainly not sagging. She had her hair always put up behind the head. She was not very fair, but a bit dark tinted. Above all, she had a smile... always smiling. That makes Kamala quite attractive. Whenever Kamala is at home, I used to move around her, looking at Kamala, and her features. I used to help her in her work, for which she would ask me to do. May be, Kamala too enjoyed being watched helped by me. She would chat with me , on anything that comes to her tongue.
Kamala used to call me to accompany her to the padinjareppura, when she's to take something (particularly the firewood) from there. Infact , my grandma used to call me to escort her to the pura.
It was on the day before Vishu, during that vacation. Kamala was on duty, as Mooppathy was sick. Kamala was quite busy, over the whole day. In the afternoon, she called me to accompany her to the pura to fetch firewood. She walked in the front and I followed.
Padinjareppura is a bit away, may be about 2 to 3 minutes walk. The passage to the pura is like a sine curve, and is between the trees and plants (kappa, and others..) Enroute, there is a thattu (where the land is up by about 2 metres. Four/five steps, with stones, is projecting out of the 'kayyala'. There are no proper stairs to the higher thattu.
The stairs (stones) are high planted quite distant. One has to stretch out his legs a bit wide to climb on to these steps. For tall persons, its OK, but for short and children, its quite difficult to climb.
Kamala , followed by me, walked through the narrow passage and reached the thattu. She , being short, cannot climb the steps by her own. She needed some assistance... help to push her up the steps. Climbing on to the first step, and trying to reach for the second, she asked me to push her from back. I tried to push her on her butts, up the steps. May be it helped her climb the second step. I climbed on the first. For her next step, she again wanted me to push her butts up. I did it again. I used both my palms, pushing her large bulbous butts. With the fourth step, she was up the thattu. She helped me to climb up the last step... she holding my palm, pulled me up to the upper thattu.
We continued our walk to the pura, Kamala leading and I was following.

to continue ... in the next post