Episode-I

mostly from the time that i could remember i remember daddy more than amma. he used to be so indulgent towards me so much so my sisters even today say that i was spoiled by him[ in which way i dont know ofc!!!:)]i dont remember many things in OTp , except my little brother Unni's death & daddy & amma's crying. & how cold he felt when i tried to touch his forehead...
while we were in OTp after the tragedy, probably to divert his sorrow, daddy decided to do his post gradn In tropical diseases in Madras... in aplace called Madanapally. they still have the most prestigious TB sanatorium of India . so the family was left in OTP & daddy went to MDS. afer about ayear Rachi my eldest sister[ Valiyamma, to my children] was going to MDS, i dont know why, may be on a holiday bcos she was not studying& was just waiting to get married! . My cousin , mother's eldest sister's daughter Leela , who was also aDr married to a bank manager was in Mds.
so Rachi was all ready & we all went to leave her at the stn to board the train. may be those days ppl went very earlyto the stn & dint mind waiting there rather than miss the train by getting late. I had no idea where she was going etc. [ i think i was about 4 years old, or even less]then i heard amma telling her" ok, tell daddy this, this etc, that we are all ok and so on".
then i suddenly knew she was going to meet Daddy where ever it was,
i started making a big racket saying i too wanted to go w/ her & kept crying for daddy.
finally amma had no other option, & leaving the rest at the stn she went back w/ me home, picked up just afew of my dresses & some milk or something for me[ the train would reach mds only by about 8 a m &rachi already had some packed bfast w. her. brought me back & put me in the train. since i was less than 5 years , there ws no prob of buying a tkt. !!

the next day at the stn i remember daddy's astonishment& such a happy smile on his face to see me; hopefully apleasant surprise] as he picked me up saying" oh meerakutty vannuvo? "'
so we allstayed at Leelachechi's place for about 2 mnths & daddy used to visit most evenings as he was in the college hostel. then he had his course break & we all went back to OTp.


i wonder Now whether i would have indulged my children in such a way, when they were that small........

then daddy had finished his diploma in tropical diseases[ TDD] . he was the only TB splt in the whole of malabar area at that time.
after that daddy wasposted to Quilandy. & thats where i went first time to a school[ it was asmall primary school & all my checies used to call it as Madhathil college! i started w/ 3rd class. but i studied there only for 1 year by which time daddy was posted to Coimbatore.
there i joined in St Anthony's school, in the 5th class. though, it was a, convent school they were particular about Tamil which was a must. so i had a tutor Ramaswamy. he used to come home at abt 4 pm &" teach" till 5 30 . most of the time he used to fan himself w/ a "visari... apalm leaf fan " & go off to sleep . i used to get up & run around the house & come when he woke up. anyway, he initiated me into the Tamil language & fortunately i could pick up the language well & by the half yearly exam i was first even in Tamil." the teachers were very surprised" the new malanjali kutty is first even in Tamil'. rest of the subjects ofc i was first.
again i studied there just another year & again we came back to kerala side ; to Kuthuparambu. there i was in a coed school. tharahechi was in the sixth form [ 11th class & i was in the 1st form [ 6th class] chechi used to be called the nightingale of our school& won so many prizes for singing both carnatic as well as light music. the last one she sang there was the song" Ayegaa"... from the film "Mahal". i still remember the way her male class mates singing when we were returnig home" ayeega, ayegaaa., ayega, caril poyega":)) Those days we were the omly children who used to be going to school by car!!

there we used to have embroidery competitions. that too1st to 6th form were all clubbed together. & surprisingly again i got the first prize for that. [ chechi used to be very lazy & never liked embroidery& the teachers used to tell her off quoting me as the example.... which ofc must have been so hurtful for her.though to give her full credit she never showed any resentment towards me.

after chechi finished her Intermediate exams Daddy had retired by then & got aan honoraray job as the TB splt in the Govt hospl Tellicherry.BTW, Kuthuparambu was h only 8 kms from Tellicherry. Then we moved to Tellicherry & for the first time we had electricity in our house. Daddy bought a radio then & i , who was very fond of hearing music even those days , ws so happy.
those days were the happiest days of my childhood. It was as if the last of the dying flames!!
Kochechi got married there. If i remember , even kochechy had not seen her future husband except his photo. & those days kochechi was really beautiful& somehow we all felt that Ettan was no match for her.
But Daddy was quite taken by him from his lettrs to hhim.He had a lot of ideals. No question of any dowry, [ in any case in our community there was no custom of dowry]. & what exactly else i dont know. nyway everything was fixed .
amma was not in favour of it as she also felt that they were not suited to each other. Rachi who was 4 years elder to kochi as not yet married & so again it was not considered the thing to do.
But it seems Kochi heard daddy talking to amma once about the considerable burden of nOt having any of the daughters married& decided then & there to give her ok to it.
Anyway, the marriage was conducted in" Padmavihar" in Vengody, Elapully where our original Kenath Tharavad is. Padmavihar[ named so in honour of amma's father Padmanabha mannadiar.

this house was built by Balamaama[ my mother's youngesr brother w/ shares for all the sisters & brothers in it. ]

I would like to tell about my mother's family at this juncture.
My mother family was a sthani nair Tharavad, the nairs of that house were Kshatriyas& my grandfather was a naduvazhi[ one who rules aplace is the literal translation.] those days they had the right to give judicial orders & even to order sombodty to be executed. .
amma was the 4th of10 siblings. she had an elder sister...Ammu, then valiammaama [Narayana Menon-- was the MD of Colgate& was based in Bombay till retirement], then was Thanka valiamma, then Amma[ Subhadra] after her was meenakshi[mema ]then manikkamaama,, Damayantielayamma, Bhagheerathi cheriyamma, annolemma[ annapurneswari] & balamaama. there was another brother after balamaama, vasudevan who died of some congenital heart problem at the age of 14 years.
apparently amma was very intelligent & insisted on studying even after she matured[ this was unheard of those days& her father agreed to it & she studied upto Intermediate!. after that her father made a school for her to be the head teacher , in Elapully it self .
so amma used to go to the school w/ an escort... another girl of almost the same age as herself[ abt 20yrs!] named Neeluamma.
they had an" Otta kalavandi"[ acaet driven by a single Bullock, w/ alot of jingles on his neck & beautifully covered w/ palm leaf matt. from amma's house to go to the school the cart had to climb a small mound & the bullock's neck bells will make alot of noise then.
this is the prologue for the Romantic story to come!
About that time Daddy was posted after bcoming ayoung Doctor to Elapully. his dispensary was in betwen the Kenath house & amma's school.
so when the cart clombs the mound Daddy could hear the sound clearly.
amma;a mother==== my ammammawas a diabetic& since anew Doctor came to the dispensary, he was called in to treat her.

at amma's house the most educated person being amma, she was always in attendance when the doctor came to see the patient; to receive the instructions refarding the treatment & to carry it out.

amma was an extremely beatiful girl then according to daddy[:))]
anyway, she was fair, slim & had very long curly hair... which itself is a rare combination & that too thick & upto her ankles!! yes ankles! & daddy just could not but fall in love w/ her. Daddy was a tall, dark & handsome man[ according to amma:))]& a very precise & intelligent doctor who was so much popular w/ all the patients.
so the stage was set
& the romance began..............

when ever he was free at the dispensary which he was being very early in the morn, when amma's cart used to come daddy used to stand at the hospl verandah to get a glimpse of her !!
& the frequent visits to the patient was a boon to them.

Now abit of Daddy's family background. [ as opposed to amma's which i have already noted] daddy was from anormal nair house who were considered as" Sudras" whose main jobs were business[ "vanibham" they were not considered as"Kshatriyas" " who were warriors!& highly respected "stani nairs".
those days marriages between these 2 communities were unimaginable.
mostly girlsof amma's tharavadu were married[ "sambandham"] to Namboodiris / patters[ brahmins].

then there were 27 tharavadus , known as" gotram ". In this about 14 were the same family say A people & cannot inter marry & the other 13 were another set of families just like the other onesay B . i dont remember the houses in them. But intermarriages betw een A & B were allowed. & only were done apart from the brahmins.
so, that was the romance of daddy& amma.
finally they decided to get married despite all the oppositions.
with the help of daddy's sister kochunrayaiamma[ we used to cal her valia chechi]& amm's elder brother Narayana menon[valiammama to us] they eloped to calicut. where they went to the Arya samajam & got married. Daddy by ten was posted to wynad & so had their honey moon& the life to gether there. after one year of blissful togetherness[ according to both of them] amma gave birth to her first daughter.. Rachi[ valiamma]on20 dec1928.