Dear God,
At long last I am back talking to you. Call it lethargy or smug, I have just not been up to anything lately.
Slowdown, job/pay cuts have left all of us drained emotionally. I needed to break free, escape to a place away from this pandemonium. An unplanned, almost overnight decision put me on a train to my hometown, Palakkad.
As I set foot in your country, I knew this was going to be a memorable and a rejuvenating trip. It had rained the night before and the aroma of Earth almost jump-started my senses.
Thottam house, the ancestral home from another century stands tall and proud in the hamlet called Chandrasekharapuram. One look at the structure tells you that it has weathered many a violent storm, has stood the test of time and has become a significant part of history and legacy. The insides have scarcely been modified ever since I have known it. Every element in the building still goes strong and carries generations of memories. I have vivid memories of scampering around the house with Thatha (Grandpa) chasing, trying to keep speed. I was born here and although spent very little time after, I have always been drawn to the house and the village folk.
Thinnai (Front yard), the house and the Kollai (Backyard) constitute to the Thottam House.
A recently modified gate that rests on two ageing (albeit, gracefully) pillars welcomes you into the Thinnai, into Thottam House. The slanting Ottuperai (Roof made of mud) forms the parasol. Thinnai is lined with plants/trees bearing flowers like Shoe flower, Lily, Bougainvillea etc. Most of the flowers are used as offerings to you during the morning Pujai (Puja). A Nellikkai (Gooseberry) maram (tree) at the foot of the Thinnai keeps popping its produce onto the Ottuperai.
The insides of the house comprise of Ullu Thinnai (Sit out space), Macchikullu (Store), Your room, Adukullu (Kitchen, there are two), rest room and Macchimellai (Attic).
Kollai (Backyard) is love beyond poetry. Dotted with tall trees and now an unused well, it is but natural for poetry to flow here. Quiet is abundant here. Trees and birds alone have the right to utterance, if any. The thicket that forms when branches embrace each other is divine abode. Coconut and Jackfruit trees are like an epidemic, really! Every house here, as elsewhere in Kerala is embellished by these trees. So we call upon Kunjuraman's services to get some coconuts down and feast on them. Kunjuraman to me is the real Spiderman, the real Superhero. He can go up the tree in almost no time and send those fruits flying down like it was a routine day in office. Oh! by the way, Kunjuraman runs errands for houses here including gardening, cleaning up wells etc. Back to his exploits, I feasted on at least three of them, along with the fruits that lined the walls inside. What thrilled me truly was that I had them for free versus having to spend about 8/- back home in the city.
"Green is the colour" goes the Pink Floyd ballad and how truly so. Hard as you might try, you cannot escape the greenery around - the Paddy fields, the trees, the hedges etc haunt you, in a good way of course! The end of the Kollai opens into the perennial Attangarai (a tributary of the great Bharatha Puzha). This is my favourite place here. I can thrive on this place, the sounds of the waters battering the rocks within, the fish biting into your legs etc. I believe the fish can bite into germ-infested wounds and heal them. The force of the current undulates onto your back giving you an almost therapeutic massage, one you cannot get at the plushest of Spas in town. There is so much to hear here - the birds, the splashes, the swaying of branches etc are nothing less than a beautiful composition. The sand encircling this beautiful stream shines in all its glory when the Sun embraces it at noon. Unfortunately, not too much of the sand is now left with realtors digging into it for construction purposes.
Part two follows.....
