The field across the railway track in Kayamkulam grew paddy as a staple crop, rotation of crops were practiced to nourish the soil, Sesame was one of them, there was also tapioca and vegetable like yam, etc. in certain areas.
Ladies and men from near known to us for years, worked in the paddy fields, they would congregate very early in the morning at home to have their morning tea and take instructions for the day, the roll call and tips were passed on to them, I practiced my 5 minutes stand up, tool box meeting from this routine. prior to any job or event be it in the kitchen, home, office, outdoor, or competitions in school and colleges, even exams, I believed in strategizing, detailing the modus operandi and documenting the thoughts.
I wrote down every single thought that came to my mind and shared them with the team be it one or many, later it became so handy to email in advance and the team members had to come up with ideas to improve. It was always better to have many heads together than one. My emails reached the team at 12 am or before 5 am…just yesterday I orchestrated a shifting, from the 4th floor of an apartment in NY, for Princess MAKU thanks to WhatsApp, and I have decided to patent my solution, on recommendation from Suchi, when you want to move clothes from multistoried building with no lift, use the thick black garbage bags double them, fill up, tie the open end and just drop down, and kick it down the stairs, don’t bother to carry ever. Moving of 8 bags was done in less than 30 minutes.
There was so much to learn, from the balancing act of walking on the varambu, without slipping when wet ; never to use rubber slippers on wet fields, walk bare foot for perfect balance. The need of a stick to poke and check on the creepy crawlies, and drive the neighbours dogs, the steel thooku with drinking water or kanji vellam to quench thirst, the tiny piece of thorthu to swab the sweat, the arivaal (sickle), the kotta (basket) made of coir… so on and so forth. I loved to accompany Valiammachy and attend to errands, she was an active participant and a team player, dignity of labor was practiced in full, she never stood back to watch, she wet her hands all the time. The team was always self-motivated and committed.
I love to follow what I learnt from my elders and practiced as a kid, I believe the best attribute I got was patience.
The team of workers came home during lunch break for Valiammachy’s amazing food: mouthwatering kanji (rice porridge), puzhukku (tapioca and other root vegetable boiled and mashed with coconut, green chili, shallots and sautéed with coconut oil, mustard, red dry chili, curry leaves), moru (butter milk with crushed ginger, green chili, shallots, curry leaves) and unakka Meen (dried fish fried). No menu anywhere in the world could match this amazing combination. I loved the kanji at home and I am a staple rice eater 365 days 24×7.
Some days Valiammachy would stay back, waiting for the fish monger (Ottandi) to come on his bicycle with the meenkutta (fish basket) tied to the back of the cycle, covered with Paala, to cover and protect the fish from direct sunlight and crows, it also served the purpose of a display tray for the fish. Paala (skin peeled off the betel nut tree that holds the leaf to the trunk), was part of our lives growing up, my first bath tub when I was born, this is where I was laid with oil smeared all over, this was used for every baby at home, this was our limousine when young, we used as our uber to ride through the yard, elders made caps to shield from rain, fan for summer, an amazing product with endless opportunities.
Our Ottandi would duck his hand inside the kutta and pinch a few fish or shrimp and keep on the paala and even before my Valiammachy could reach with her Meen Chatty (earthen pot) to collect the fish, her darling pets would all be circling the bicycle and charming him for a treat.
I don’t remember him collecting money then and there, he normally came when he needed and after his sales, especially with all the breaking news. He was one of the many Google of the community those days. My Valiammachy was his bank he trusted the accounts and the money with her.
The fresh fish with no preservatives were taken to the trough near the well and she would perch on the thitta (kerb) and this is when her pets and the crows, stood by with the best behavior ever, the cats kept moving up and down, brushing her legs, through the cutting and cleaning of the fish. Every time she flings a morsel of the fish, it was an amazing sight to watch the crows and the cats trying to catch it from air, like the basketball rebounds. One thing I have noticed they never fought they made sure everyone got a fair share.
The process of cleaning and cutting fish was so systematic, there would be 2 Meen Chatty, one would have rock salt and the other with the fish and water, the fish would be scaled first, holding under water to prevent the scales from splashing all over, then the fins are removed, stomach side is slit and gutted, next the tail is cut and then the fish is put into the chatty with salt and turned with the hand a few times until the slimy feel disappears, then it is cleaned until the water is clear like tears, the waste is shared by the cats and crows under supervision, the balance is then disposed at the foot of coconut trees in pits and the water is poured for the many trees around in turns, these trees gave the best yield ever.
There wouldn’t be any loose waste floating around, as there was always the fear of a stray crow picking the waste and dropping in the well. The complete process was closely monitored, sustainable disposal and treatment was carried out all the time.
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