Evergreen memories...

Life seems to be a magic.. we get so caught up with our day-to-day chores and challenges, that we even forget how we get into this whirlpool of family, kids etc.. Memory seems to fade away - thanks to two pregnancies and parenthood :( But, I still remember those wonderful childhood days spent with my li'l sister and my loving appa and appa! And, those funfilled summer vacation at my paternal grandparents place, in a small village called Pattamadai. Pattamadai is a calm, beautiful village along the banks of the river Tamaraparani, near Tirunelveli. My grand parents lived in the Agrahaaram called Sivananda street in Pattamadai (shown in the photo, as seen today). Agrahaarams are the traditional homes of South Indian Brahmins; invariably row houses with slan ting roofs, tall and heavy wooden beams along and common walls lining both sides of the street that leads to a temple, one on each end of the street. One such home is Thatha-Paati's (around 80 years old as of today). The backyard of the house opens up to a crystal clear river, that flowed almost all through the year.

Until my tenth grade, I have spent many days of summer vacation at my paternal grandparents's place. My parents would send me and my sister to Pattamadai in early April, to spend good one month with thatha and paati. My dad would help us board the bus at 8AM, at Madurai, and it took about 4 and half hrs to reach Pattamadai. Me and my sister would happily chat all along the journey, and plan for the fun that awaited us there. I still remember that scenic route — lush green paddy fields, flower beds, banana plantations, crystal clear rivers.... what a beautiful sight.... And as we got closer to our village, our excitement would race, and we would just wait to see the tomb of a mosque, the landmark which told us that we were just couple of miles from the Pattamadai bus stand. Waiting for us at the bus stop was a person call Santhaanam, who took care of Thatha's cows, bulls and farm. He would take us home in the bullock cart. The ride was about 10 -15 mins.. Paati and thatha eagerly awaited our arrival. As soon as we arrived, all our friends would swamp the house and all the holiday mood sets in right away! After exchanging a few words with Thatha, Paati would start giving us the travel updates of my other cousins(my dad's brother's sons, and my dad's sisters's sons and daughters)...They arrived at Pattamadai in a day or two after us. What a wonderful time we all had with our grand parents (Thatha and Paati)! When we all meet, it takes at least a couple of days to catch up on the fun that we had left off the previous year! hours and hours of chatting, fight, gossip, etc etc....
The entire village was up early. As we try hard to open the heavy eye lids at dawn, the first thing that slowly breaks the silence of the early morning is the voice of the milkman. Then, we hear the sounds of the maids, who start sweeping the enterance of the homes..the space before each house was swept, sprinkled with water and decorated with a kolam (Rangoli). In a short while, right before the sun is out, the entire street had kolams of different sizes and patterns, in front of every house in the agraharam. At this point, I finally decide try to get out of the bed.. Though I was among the oldest grand kids, I was my Thatha and Paati's favourite! She would ask me to wake up all my cousins, who will still be snuggled in their comforters! Finally, in about half hour, we are all out of the bed, brushed, and ready for a dose of fresh filter coffee.. My grandparents had atleast half a dozen cows in the backyard of the house.. Everyday, the milkman would come as early as 4am in the moring, and start milking the cows.. Paati would then boil the fresh milk for us for the morning coffee. After the coffee, myself, and some of our cousins would go to the backyard to watch the cute baby calves and feed them some bananas that my paati would have reserved for the cows! Then, we start hearing the vendors of fresh vegetables and greens straight from the gardens invaded the street, some calling out in raucous voices and some in a sing song manner.
Then, around 7am, we all sit down with our summer assignments..Though my grand parents were fun loving, and very affectionate, they were strict disciplinarians and also gave lot of importance to our studies. So, all 7 of us would sit down with our homework in the front room, called Ullu-Thinnai, meaning inner-Varanda, the room that was mostly used as a study.. Each of us decide and start our assignments: Math, English comprehnsion, or Hindi.. If I think back, it was so much fun to study together.. Even though we try to do our work quietly, sometimes a small discussion that starts as a whisper to clarify a doubt, would end up in a big fight, with my naughty cousin brother snatching my assignment papers in anger, and running around the house, threatening me that he would feed my papers to the cows! Finally, the fight ends with my Thatha pitching into the scene and yelling at us "What are you guys upto? If I hear anymore noise... I will pack all of you back to your home..".. That's it.. Now, we all get back to our work..
Towards the end of the homework session, the maid would arrive, and she would start to sweep and wipe the the floor, and clean the house. Then, we all get ready for the bath and then start with the preparations for the pooja. Thatha had our ancesteral Lingams. The priest came every day to chant the slokams and did the poojas for the lingams, as daily rituals. Our contribution was to gather the pooja items, and get them ready for the priest and Thatha.. After the pooja, we would clear up the pooja stuff, and deposit them to paati, so that she could wash and wipe them clean for the next day. Everyday after the pooja, the priest would give us little bit of white rice and paruppu (dhal) in a plantain leaf, which we would leave it near the cow-shed for the crows to eat.

After the pooja, we all get ready for lunch. Lunch was serverd in the dining hall called "Pattaa Saalai". Because we were 8 of us, the plates and the spot for each of us gets assigned on the first day! Paati would cook a varierty of food for lunch. Some days, she would prepare one favorite item of our choice. But the rule of thumb is that all of us have to eat all the items! After the lunch, we would help her clear the plates and each of us got in turns every day, to clean up the Patta Saalai after Lunch. After lunch, Paati would have a short nap in the afternoon. For us, afternoon is the time for all in-door games - like ludo, cards, hide and seek etc. We also had lot of friends, who lived in Pattamadai. Since they also had summer break at that time, they would arrive at our grandparents home in the afternoon.. Every day, we were atleast a dozen of us! Sometimes we even enacted Ramayan! We used an old wooden sofa as the stage for our performance in the dining room (Pattaa Saalai)! This sofa is probably 75 yrs old now - shown in photo below.

Our games would pause for a short break at 4PM, when Paati called us all for evening snacks- a variety of home made delicacies - murukku, Thatai, banana chips, adirasam etc.. all home made by Paati. Then, after the snack, she would comb and braid the her for all her grand daughters (me and my sister, and 2 of my other cousin sisters). We all freshen up, and get ready for some out door games in the street for next one hour! Sometimes we went for short walks round the lush paddy fields behind the Sivananda mutt, or, sometimes, we sat on the riverbank, next to the Ganesha temple (called as "Vaaikkaal Karai Pillaiyaar koil"). Then by 6PM, we were supposed to report back to Paati. We all sat before the Altar for the evening prayers. We chant the Shlokas, and sometimes sang short Bhajans. Me and cousin sisters were learning Indian Classical carnatic music. So, evening was the time to sit and practice all the music. Paati was a very good singer, and had a good knowledge of carnatic music, and so she took active interest in this event every evening!

Around 6PM everyday, we didn't miss going to the two village temples with the other friends. We found the atmosphere serene, peaceful and sublime. Then, 7:30PM was dinner time. And after dinner, we all settle down in the central hall of the house. Paati would tell us some stories , and gradually we would fall asleep without our knowledge! Those were the days! I can't beleive it's more that 2 decades since then..

Then time flew by. And things took a lot of twists and turns with time.. After high school, college etc, I got married, and moved to the other part of the world more than 12 years ago.... My Thatha passed away a decade ago... My cousins moved to different places for Studies/work etc.. and gradually got caught up with their lives! and we don't meet that often, except for some occasional email exchages with some of them.. I did not get a chance to go to Pattamadai until 2002, when my son was a year old. Though I had a lot of fond memories and emotions attached to that soil, and I always wanted to visit Pattamadai every year, it is practically not possible for us to do so, considering a lot of factors - work, kids's school etc.. My parents visit Pattamadai twice a year, and they stay in our ancestral home (photo on the Left). And this is where in the recent years my parents have been conducting all the annual pooja and religious ceremonies. My parents, my uncles and aunts meet here almost evey year during the annual pooja in Pattamadai.

After 5 years, again last year, we went to Pattamadai. My kids enjoyed every moment of their stay there, and were showered with love from grandparents, and everyone in our family. ....All the memories of those good old days were racing in my mind.. Hundreds of images from those golden times were flashing in front of my eyes.. God! how time has flown... very nostalgic.. and I can't beleive life has come to me so fast!