Love by love

Paying back love by love ————- “Your face is familiar. Aren’t you Kuppuswamy’s daughter? We call him Kuppu” “No, uncle. I’m Appuswamy’s wife, I call him Up” “My son’s name too is that. But, we don’t call him Up” “He is never up from bed before noon, right?” “Right. How do you know?” “I told … Read more

Kuppuswamy, my friend

NRI boys do remove their shirts. Many trains halted and passed through Olavakkode Junction, day and night, more during night. Seated on the veranda of my house, by the station road, I used to watch the movement of people. From the Kalpathy villages, they used to come to receive or see off their relatives. Some … Read more

MAmiyar Murukku

MAmiyar murukku. ‘Mappillai murukku’ – some of you would have heard. I heard it for the first time, when I stayed for a couple of days, soon after my wedding in my wife’s house at Thiruvananthapuram. For evening snack, I was served, after asking me to be seated facing the auspicious East, Avil aka beaten … Read more

Raman Mama

Raman Mama was a very simple soul, almost like a child, though he was above forty, with a big frame, loud voice and a lavish mustache almost covering his thick lips. He was my neighbor in ‘Panchavadi’ our bachelor ‘palace’ in a village, during my early carrier days in Hyderabad. He preferred to mould his … Read more

My maiden movie adventure

Kavassery, my mother’s birth place, is a small village in the outskirts of Palakkad. I happened to spend a few days there, as a boy during holidays. My cousin of my age asked me to sleep on the thinnai ( a raised platform in front of the Brahmin houses, roofed but front opened), to escape … Read more

Not at all in a hurry

Cartoon courtesy: RamKi. —————————– Seshumama was proverbially a slow -action man. He takes an hour to eat his food, two hours to take bath and three to do his daily morning and evening poojas. We,  in the village, loved the simple- minded, humble, soft spoken, slow walking , day-dreaming  Sesh . He can be trusted … Read more

Thathukkothooppan

Thathukkothooppan ———————— “You know cooking?” “Somewhat. Shall learn more from you, when I become your friend’s daughter in law” “Smart girl. You guessed, just seeing my face that I am a culinary expert” “Not seeing your face uncle. Hearing your question. You didn’t have any thing better to ask a prospective bride” “Our RAMU is … Read more

An observation lapse

“Observe your body”- I was giving my co-traveler in the Chennai mail, an unsolicited advice, a practice which I have been following from the day I became eligible for concessional travel in Indian Railways. ”What is there to observe?” he protested as I expected and added sarcasm -smeared commentary, “I know about my body, from head … Read more