Happy Memories

I am not going to continue from the previous one, but take a slight detour.

While sharing her reminiscences with me, Ammamma suddenly got worried that she tended to share so many challenges of her life with us that she may be giving the picture of a childhood that was less than happy. She recalls the fun of being the younger lot in a joint family with sisters, brothers and sisters in law pampering her. There was a lot of fun when her brothers in law came visiting, as they were the target of many jokes and pranks, which was the normal practice. Ammamma and her brothers used to spread a small mound of broken earthenware pieces (penkulu) and then cover it up with the low seat (peeta) and invite them honourably for partaking lunch or dinner. They would then have great fun and laugh uproariously when the sitting down resulted in an embarrassing and prolonged cacophony of the pieces being crushed. Another prank was to put the durada gundaaku (a leaf that causes itching) on their beds.

She remembers the day Suryavati Atthayya came home as a new bride - she certainly did not have the coyness of a new bride - when Ammamma was shown to her as her aada bidda, she immediately commented - aada bidda? goda gidda? - and that marked the start of a lifelong friendship that transcended every relationship in the family and it also characterized their continual ribbing as the major medium of conversation (this of course all you three kids know and are witness to their constant repartee). She remembers Suryavati Atthayya as a very energetic and fun person (and actually fat at that time!), and alongwith her third sister in law Laxmikantamma, they made quite a riot in their huge yard playing all sorts of games such as chamma chakka, and the like and - hold your breath - marbles! Ammamma prides herself on being able to hit the farthest marble with her aim. Suryavati Atthayya and Laxmikantamma were lively and home was a fun place. Their parents' homes were also in nearby villages (Nagaram and Bellamvaripalle), and their bonding increased during travels. Satyam Mamayya was big chested and quite a six pack man. He was capable of hefting a bag of paddy on to his shoulders with facility. So they made a great pair physically and temperamentally as he was also fun loving.

A particular scene that is not happy which Ammamma remembers is that of the extraction of the heavy ankle ornaments which had to be removed from her sisters' feet when they outgrew them. A rope used to be tied to the anklet and to a pillar and the hapless girls used to be pulled till the solid silver metal bent and could be taken off their feet, only to be readorned in a bigger size.

Ammamma was a gourmet (she is specific to mention that it was not gluttony), and she enjoyed all kinds of freshly cooked foods, natural fruits and laments that they don't come like that anymore. She remembers biyyappindi jantikalu made by a big, special wooden press and eaten by dipping into bellam syrup. The press needed the muscle power of men (her brothers) for the finest extrusions. She loved a lot of dishes made of palm fruits (thaatikayalu). Thaati kudumulu, thaandra made by scraping of the pulp against a huge vertical sieve and then spread out to dry, apart from a whole lot of other snacks made in huge quantities and stored in baskets for the large family. She loved the freshly made thotakura kaadala pulusu from plants grown in their backyard. Many vegetables were sun dried in summer and stored for use in rainy season, when going out would be well nigh impossible. These were known as vorugulu. In summer they had a maize dish called mokka jonna thopa (more like a porridge).

Festivals were occasions which she enjoyed a lot. Deepawali was an elaborate festival. Preparations for that started way in advance of the date. She remembers the beautiful hanging lamp holders made from thaataku (dried palm leaves) and hung on the sides of each door. All crackers were made at home. Other festivals she liked were Atla Tadde, when swings were slung upon very big trees and all girls used to swing high and for a whole day, and also make and eat atlu early morning(pancakes - Atla Tadde means Pancake day- third of the lunar month).

She remembers her mother being very strict about the upbringing of girls, yet, she was tender enough not to let her daughters know the suffering she was undergoing due to probably a tumour in her womb - no details are known. She would insist on keeping her younger daughters with her always and not leave them even if she had to go for treatment, probably because she was scared that she may not see them again. So Ammamma and Vanakumari Pinni always went with her to Repalle Govt Hospital, then for a Nature Cure centre in Morthota. They used to travel by a goodu bandi (an oxcart with a purdah on all sides and Ammamma had to go to the front of the house and alert all men to vacate the porch because women had to travel). In the nature cure hospital, her mother was smeared with oil and sunbathed in the hot sun with a shade for her head only. None of these treatments helped her. However, when she actually passed away, Ammamma and Pinni were watching the Chariot festival on Vaikuntha Ekadasi at the temple and had to be summoned to her bedside after her death.

Isn't it surprising that Ammamma used to be religious in the sense of regularly going to temples, singing bhajans, etc., though I personally suspect that it may be because of the prasadam! (She is protesting). She particularly talks about bhajans at the houses of two ladies called Vallamma who lived in front of their house and another lady called Devudamma. Both incidentally were widows. There used to be heavy bhajan singing and at the end of it, Vallamma used to light the harathi and swallow it off, whcih use dot fascinate Ammamma. (It may be a reflection of the constricted lives of single women/widows in those days, who had not other legitimate outlet other than pooja I suppose?). She also vaguely remembers the preaching of Christianity by Missammas (as the missionaries were called) and also receiving the Cross and Jesus Christ etc., but does nit seem to know anyhting more about the inroads of Christianity into er village.