Category: A10 — AMMULU STORIES AND OTHER FUN FOUNTAINS

 
‘Last evening, Ammini told me that my face, instead of shrinking and fading due to aging, is glistening and whistling’
‘She said so, really?’
‘Yes, if you don’t believe my words, you can call her and confirm’
‘But, she told me that she flattered you just to buy a pumpkin piece on your way back from the temple and you obliged’
‘Liar! I cooked for her, Avial and Rasam, as she had intolerable head ache and chest beats, pud, pud’
‘You did that SP, Really?
‘Yes, I did. You can call her and confirm’
‘No need. I will call my mom and tell her that I’m joining the Tour Group organized by her friends. Earlier, I sad, ‘no’, worrying about your food. Now, I can go happily, glistening and whistling’
‘Ammalu, now my heart beats pud, pud!
————————————–
‘How is your head ache, SP?’
‘Other than you, I have no other headache, Ammalu’
‘ KAmu saw you waiting in the bus stand, turning your head to right and left, a dozen times’
‘That was kanda sakthi, a yoga practice. I keep on doing one kriya or the other instead of wasting time looking at women as other men of my age do’
‘KalyAni did see you staring at a woman, while waiting for your coffee in a restaurant!’
‘That was Nethra sakthi. I stare at a particular point for three minutes. Wonder how your friends manage to observe me at different locations and report my movements so accurately to you, within minutes. Nowhere did I see them!’
‘That is Stree sakthi’
—————————-
“Ammalu, somehow I want to be your mom’s chum. Tell me one way to achieve my goal. Help me, please”
“A ripe jackfruit is there in her back yard. Cut it into pieces, remove the sticky glue, separate the fruits and hand over to mom”
“Any job other than that sticky business?”
“I’m afraid, no.”
“Then, let the fruit be there on the tree, the old lady in her home and me where I’m ”
“Then, what about mom’s chum?”
“Let the mom’s ever chum remove the gum from the fruits and not wait for her hubby to do such shabby jobs”
“Oh, SP, I’m proud of you. You are not going to borrow money from my mom”
 
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“Ammalu, you think I married you as I’m a fool?”
“Never. You are wise and hence you knew that you needed a strong support to take you in the right path. I repeat, you are wise and hence you married me”
———————————
Ammalu, don’t create a scene for nothing. I just tapped Ammini’s back, just for fun. Back is back, whether on the top, center or below”
“You won’t stop with the back and that is my problem.
Front is not front, whether top, center or below”
———————————–
“Did you make this pokkoda?” I asked the lady of the house, who had invited me for an evening tea.
“Yes, mama. I made it” she answered proudly.
“I doubt”, I replied, “it is too tasty”
That instant and damaging reply unwittingly came out of my mouth, as I saw, for a moment, Ammalu’s image on my host’s face and such poking to rise her anger was my usual practice. I wanted to correct my wrong, but thought, suppose she questioned whether I saw my wife’s image on every woman who invited me for tea, it would be still worse. So, I kept quiet biting my tongue.
She didn’t throw me out or say a word of abuse. Just looked at me piercingly.
But my next act brought me real trouble.
“Can I have some more; it was really good” I asked when the plate before me became empty.
“Sure, mama. Soon after my daughter in law returns from USA, I will ask her to make. Pl. wait for sometime, if you don’t mind” replied, the gracious host.
——————————————-
“No, you are not coming with me for the party, SP”
“Why Madam MAlu?”
“You misbehaved with my friends last evening when we met in Kamu’s birthday party”
“Me misbehaved! Watch your words, you, woman of the past century”
“Didn’t you take your mouth close to Paru’s and ask her whether the diamond stones on her nose stud were real or fake?
Didn’t you feel the sari of Parukkutty and ask whether her silk sari was really Kanchi Pattu or fake?
Didn’t you ask VisAlAkshi whether her hair shade was real or fake, rising your hand to her head?”
“Ammalu, if an old man is not allowed that much liberty to verify origins and duplicates, my getting old is meaningless”
“It is not the question of an old man’s liberty. It is something more serious. All the women are now worried whether your next question would be whether they are original wives or fakes. You are capable of asking any question, they complain”
—————————————
“Why did you take my Pearse soap, Ammalu?”
“I didn’t take”
“Then who took it from the bath room? Did someone come from outside to take the soap cake ? ”
“How do I know? So many are coming to meet you”
“Ammalu, who will enter the bathroom when you wait at the door like a booth?”
“I never wait at the bathroom door or any other door inside the house. I only follow you from a distance when you go out”
—————————-

“Ammalu, had I arrived one hour late on the day of wedding, your mother would have found another boy for you and I would have been spared from your clutches for ever”
“No. I would have waited for my whole life for you. And my mother too”
“You both were so enamored by my charm?”
“No. She happened to see you bargaining the price for one small piece of Pumpkin with the roadside vegetable vendor and told me: ‘he will make an ideal husband for a luxury- loving girl like you’”
 
 
 
—————————————————–
“Every man adores a woman, other than his mother and that is not his wife. What you say?”
“What do I say? You have said everything. You keep on adoring any woman. I’m not worried, as long as I have your car key, safe key and life-key”
“Life-key, what is that?”
“key to your heart”
—————————————————
“I don’t wish to hurt your feeling by saying that you are much below my expectation when I met you for the first time,
Ammalu”
“You expected something when you met me? You never raised your head then”
——————————————————
What makes a man happy in his old days ?
Recollecting his young days’ adventures, which he can munch even after losing all teeth.
If he had no such adventures for munching?
He can think of new ones .
How, if his wife, unlike Ammalu, is a strict woman?
Are you married ?
No, Sir.
Then, get married. You will learn how to create adventures.
No. Certainly not at my age. How to munch old memories, otherwise?
Ok. Keep some money always with you.
For what, Sir?
For buying peanuts! A man who is scared to marry, even after sixty, is left with nothing else for munching.
What makes a man happy in his old days ?
Recollecting his young days’ adventures, which he can munch even after losing all teeth.
If he had no such adventures for munching?
He can think of new ones .
How, if his wife, unlike Ammalu, is a strict woman?
Are you married ?
No, Sir.
Then, get married. You will learn how to create adventures.
No. Certainly not at my age. How to munch old memories, otherwise?
Ok. Keep some money always with you.
For what, Sir?
For buying peanuts, for munching! A man who is scared to marry even after sixty, is left with nothing else for munching.
 
—————————————————————
 
 
Ammalu’s face haunting
“Did you make this pokkoda?” I asked the lady of the house, who had invited me for an evening tea.
“Yes, mama. I made it” she answered proudly.
“I doubt”, I replied, “it is too tasty”
That instant and damaging reply unwittingly came out of my mouth, as I saw, for a moment, Ammalu’s image on my host’s face and such poking to rise her anger was my usual practice. I wanted to correct my wrong, but thought, suppose she questioned whether I saw my wife’s image on every woman who invited me for tea, it would be still worse. So, I kept quiet biting my tongue.
She didn’t throw me out or say a word of abuse. Just looked at me piercingly.
But my next act brought me real trouble.
“Can I have some more; it was really good” I asked when the plate before me became empty.
“Sure, mama. Soon after my daughter in law returns from USA, I will ask her to make. Pl. wait for sometime, if you don’t mind” replied, the gracious host.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sent from my iPad

“Ammalu, when the age mounts, memory slips down. So, in case I forget your name, don’t be angry with me. I may call you, Ammini, Paru, Parukutty or KalyAni, but please respond”
“Forget anything, call me by any name, I don’t mind. But never forget to hand over your monthly Pension to me so that I don’t forget to cook food for you”
“Cook for you and me. Right?”
“No, only for you”
“Then, what will I do?”
“You can go to Ammini or Kummini. Why should why worry about you?”
“They are only my friends”
“But you remember only their names and not mine”
“Ammalu, you are my wife!”
“How do I know? I don’t remember”
“How can you say that? You were sitting like a bee on an elephant’s head on your father’s lap when I tied the knot and immediately, your mother who was moving around with a bundle of currency notes in hand suddenly vanished. Do t you remember?’
“I don’t remember”
“Holding your hand I came out and showed you the Arundathy star in the sky when you quipped, ‘so, you have already started your lie serials with me? There is no star in the sky”
“That, I remember”
————————————–
“Ammalu, I have my own status, power, position, name, fame. if you expect me to follow you like a calf behind cow, you are wrong’
“SP, be practical, old man! I can’t expect you to follow me like a bull”
—————————————
“Ammalu, Will you be angry, if I say, ‘the friend and back of my girl friends are lovely?’
“Not at all. In fact, I will go a step further and say that all their external parts are lovely. I will go one more step and say that your external and internal parts including your heart are lovely. I’ll come back by a step (unwillingly, but unavoidably) and say that your eyes too are lovely but your spectacle needs correction”
—————————————–
“Ammalu, what was the senior 9- yards searching in my room early morning?”
“Might be her dentures, not sure.”
“Her dentures, why in my room?”
“It is just my assumption. Last night she was yelling at you, while you were talking to Pattu and her forceful voice would have catapulted her dentures to your room”
“Did she scream at me? I didn’t hear”
“Oh, you didn’t have your hearing aid on. I saw it in her room, this morning”
“But, how did my hearing aid reach S9Y ‘s room?”
“You were blinking at your friend’s face as if you were seeing her for the first time. So, I pinched your ear and in my force, your hearing aid would have catapulted to her room”
“Ammalu, was it not Pattabhi who sat opposite to me in the lunch table last night?”
“OMG, your spectacles too would have catapulted somewhere”
“Seems to be the season of catapulting!”
“Not unusual for your age. As long as you don’t catapult, I’m happy”
————————————–
“Please don’t interfere in my affairs; I too won’t in yours. Did you hear me, Ammalu?”
“Yes, I should not interfere in your affairs but you will, in mine”
“Do you have a mind reading machine? Can you spare it for five minutes when your mom comes here?”
“I can. But remember, my mom has already one such instrument imbedded in her heart, instead of pacemaker by a qualified surgeon”
“Remember old lady, you are taking to a Para medico to consult whom leading surgeons were waiting in front of his house”
“When was that, Sir?”
“Some twenty years before, while I was in service”
“No telephones then? Why did they come personally? Recall your memory and confirm, please”
“I confirm what I said”
“Then, you had another house and another wife? I was not aware of that long Que at our gate”
“Ammalu, I never mentioned about a woman”
“But, you mentioned about a house. what is SP without women!”
————————————
Ammalu and her Progeny soothram
“Ammalu, my father, unlike me, was a very strict man. I had never seen my mother sitting before him. Always, she used to stand, out of respect, a few yards away from him”
“Always? It can’t be always; I’m sure”
“Always. I should know better than you”
“No dispute. But, why that topic now? Is it because I’m sitting while you’re standing?”
“I gave you maximum freedom to sit or stand, near or far, as you please”
“You regret for the liberty you gave me?”
“Not exactly, but–”
“If there is an iota of regret, remove it from your mind. You did correctly as per the Progeny soothram”
“Progeny soothram? I haven’t heard it before!”
“Being a Sanskrit scholar, you know Panini soothram. I’m sure. Progeny was Panini’s brother”
“Maharshi Panini had a brother?”
“step brother. According to his theory, if a husband allows his wife to stand or sit as she likes, she will gift him with four children, minimum, as I did”
“Otherwise ?”
“Only one child, as your mother did”
“I see. I never knew that. You can sit, stand or dance, as you please, Ammalu”
“But, Progeny soothram sets an age limit. We have crossed that”
————————
 
 
 
 

“Ammalu, your mom promised to give me Rs. 500 .00 as dowry in five installments but paid only the first installment. Please ask her to pay the balance amount today, just now, before I get up from my bed”
“Ok. Before you get up, tell me whether she paid the amount before or after our marriage”
“After”
“Good. You can get up and pay her back the amount with interest for 50 years, 5 months and 4.9 days. She paid the amount to her son in law, as a loan for train fare and not as dowry”
“What do you mean?”
“SP Sir, dowry is paid in advance, not five decades after the marriage. You could have refused to marry me without cash down payment. You didn’t do it, as you were girl- starved.
Ok , your worth was only Rs. 500 then? How much dowry did you demand?”
“I didn’t. My benevolent father asked Rs. 50,000”
“My mom agreed for the amount?”
“No, she offered to pay Rs. 50.00”
“And your benevolent father agreed for that petty sum ?”
“No, he came down to Rs. 500.00 and your mom agreed”
“And she didn’t pay a pie, not even Rs. 50,00 and you agreed for the wedding?”
“As my benevolent father–”
“No, father here, benevolent or not. Say, yes, say no. Did you agree?”
“Yes”
“Sorry, Sir. You have no case. Get up and give me the loan amount with interest for
50 years, 5 months and 5 days”
“How did that 4.9 increased to 5 now?”
“You started this talk at 5.50 AM. Look at the watch. It is 6.00 now”
——————————-
“The rule that one should not look at a woman other than his wife, is applicable to all husbands or only to me?”
“Only to you”
“Why, Ammalu?”
“As you are my husband”
“Unfair, madam. I’m like any other husband, a very ordinary man”
“But, I’m not like any other wife, SP. I’m very special”
“Pray, how?”
“I’m your wife!”
“I’m totally confused”
“SP, there is nothing confusing when I say I’m your wife and you are my husband.
Confusion comes only when your gaze moves left, right, up or down and away from me. I hope the matter is clear now. If you still want further clarification, I will call my mom”
————————-
 

“Come closer, sweet heart. Let me share a secret with you. Your mom’s hearing capacity is completely gone. We can talk freely about her, even when she roams in our home like a lioness. Rejoice”
“Yesterday, she abused you right and left when you were roaming inside our home like a lion cub; you didn’t hear a word! And nothing secret about it and nothing to rejoice. We should change your hearing aid”
“I see. When did your mom go to Kasi? She didn’t tell me a word”
“OMG, We have to change your ears, not the aid”
“Change my ears? Have you gone mad, Ammalu?”
“So, it is selective hearing ; I should warn my mom, when she comes again”
——————————————-
 
“It is my dreams, Ammalu, that we both together should workout on that Elliptical equipment”
“Too late, SP. You never had such dreams, though erratic, when yours and my legs and hands were in coordination and cooperating. Then your dream partners were your college mates and colleagues”
“How did you know that my dream mates were others and not you?”
“Then you were humming Hindi movie tunes; now you are singing Thodi and MukhAri”
—————————————
“From now on, Ammalu, let us be friends”
“Are we enemies now?”
“Now we’re only husband-wife. No charm in it. Like a Newspaper read and re- read.
Let us be just friends. There will be fun. Lot of fun”
“Ok. Get up. Buy me an ice cream. Cone ice cream”
“Why not stick -ice cream? Cone is more expensive”
“What a kanjoose friend are you, who can’t buy me a cone ice cream? I’m going away.
I don’t need your friendship. Will ask another friend for a cone or even a cup ice cream”
“Ammalu, what do you mean? How you can you just go away? Remember, we are husband-wife”
“What husband- wife? No charm in it. Like a newspaper read and re- read”
———————
“Ammalu, only yesterday I realized that I love you. I love you intensely”
“I realized that long ago and my problem started. Go to sleep now, before you love me more intensely”
———————-
“My parents handed over me, the kohinoor diamond in a golden plate, to your mom, but neither she nor her daughter realized my value. What a pity, Ammalu”
“kohinoor is in a London museum and this plate is not gold. Could it be some other diamond and some other plate?”
“Could be. But the son in law, whom you two women deceived, is the same person”
“Certainly not. The son-in-law was a charming young man, of golden character and certainly not an old man trying to deceive two old women, showing a one rupee worth plate and claim that it is of gold”
“Ammalu, I’m the same person, who has become old now. How did you get the suspicion that I’m a different person?”
“Ok. Then return this plastic plate and get me a gold one and a diamond, not necessarily a kohinoor ”
——————————————————-
“More, the merrier, Ammalu. What you say?”
“Laddus?’
“No, wives”
“For you?”
“For me? After marrying you and being with you so long, will I aspire for more wives?”
“Then, who is that ‘more the merrier’ mad cap?”
“The husband in my dream. I’m not that lucky. I’m stuck to you. But don’t worry, I won’t leave you”
“Even if you leave me, I won’t leave you, as you will fall down without my support and roll on the ground. Dream if you must but never try to rise up imaging you have wings and a dozen angels are waiting for you in the land above.
The sky is much high above our floor level”
“Why should I Ammalu, when you are my angel on the land, more charming than all the angels in the sky. Right?”
“Right. Perfectly right. I love to hear you praising and I will never take it as sarcasm as all your swasams, breaths are under my control”
“Arrogance of a wife at its Himalayas! Have you forgotten that you’re a Bharatha Stree, an Indian woman, whose place is at the feet of her husband?”
“I haven’t. That was why I said that I would hold you firm to the ground so that you don’t fly away, like a kite detached from its thread. There was, however, a small omission and I’m sorry for that. I should have said that I would hold your legs firm”
“Leg pulling at its worst form”
“Sorry to make a small amendment, SP. ‘Leg pulling to the Atlantic Ocean depth’
Either a mountain or an ocean, for a man who is never on his ground.
Good night, SP. enjoy your dream!”
—————————–
“Ammalu, I’m prepared to go to any extend to please you. Any extend. Shall I scale the temple wall and jump into the pond?”
“Don’t go to that extend. Take the side gate. That would do ”
————————
“Generally a husband will have just one wife. Luckier ones will have two, luckiest three and so on. Irrespective of the number of women, the pair of eyes and ears will be only one and the tongue just one, for each wife. I have only one wife, but she has one hundred eyes and one hundred ears. Tongue two hundred. Yes, my mother in law, as you said the other day, I’m the luckiest, I’m the luckiest”
“But, SP. without throwing a single speck of dirt, oil or water or chilly powder, you make my daughter blind, deaf and dumb, all at a time, for all your mischief.
I’m the luckiest, I’m the luckiest ”
“Smart lady, why didn’t you say that your daughter is the luckiest”
“No use. She says, with my eyes, ears and mouth shut, I can see where my husband is, I can hear what he utters . And without moving my tongue a millimeter, he follows my instructions.”
“So, she is certainly the luckiest, MIL. Why don’t you tell her”
 

“If Parukutty comes, tell her that the vessel she wanted, is on the kitchen table ”
“Sorry, Ammalu. I can’t do that. I have taken a vow not to look at the face of ‘aparastree’, any woman other than my wife”
“I know that. She will enter the house walking backward or you walk backward and pass on the message. But, make sure, that by mistake, you don’t collide. As you always comment, her face is pretty but her back is pretty hard”
————————————————-
Hi, dude! What’s up ?”
“Dude? Who is that?”
“Who else, pal? You, my Hubby the Honest”
“Ammalu, What happened to you old lady? We have just applied for American visa; you have already become an American ?”
“No, I haven’t and I won’t .
But tell me this- will you stop roaming in the temple premises, wearing shorts?”
“Yes, I’ll”
“Will you stop talking to my mom in English?”
“Yes, I’ll”
“Will you stop telling my friends that I’m old- fashioned and you are new- fashioned?”
“Ammalu, I never said that I’m new- fashioned!”
“You didn’t. That was my addition to extract the truth from you”
“Ha,ha! Too many additions to extract too many things!”
“SP, I’m a wife and I’m an Indian wife. I’m a Palakkadan wife. I know how to make you a good husband”
“Thank you. You called me SP and not dude. You said I’m your husband not hubby”
“No additions or extractions there, SP sir!”
———————————————
“You talk as if I’m an Asura and you are a Deva breed, Ammalu”
“Never. You are not only a Deva, but you are their King, Devaraja. That comparison has nothing to do with Ahalya episode, though”
——————————————
“Of all the women I know Ammalu, you are the best bet. I have realized it now”
“My dear SP, you have only seen other women but none of them you know. Even after living with me so long, you have not known me. So, forget about your bet”
————————————————
“Aren’t you ashamed SP, to be after Ammalu, always, pestering her, holding the backdrop of her sari?”
“No, I’m not . Man has to be after a woman at any age. And at my age, do you think it would be safe for me to be after a woman other than my wife?’
—————————————-
“Ammalu, you are my wife, not WiFi, to appear and disappear, now and then”
“What to do SP, you note only my absence, not my presence”
——————————————–
“In the good old days, wives used to fall at the feet of their husbands thrice a day and take their blessings”
“Shall I fall at your feet now?”
“Wait till your mom comes, please. She is expected any moment. She will be happy to see the glow in my face”
“It is a good idea. She goes and tells everyone that I’m an expert in making you prostrate before me, thirty times a day( not thrice) , without your head bending an inch”
“That is a polished way of telling that I obey every word of yours”
“I have no idea. I w’ll fall at your feet the moment she comes in. I’ll”
“Ammalu, please don’t do that. From thirty per day, you mom will increase the number to three hundred”
———————————
“Ammalu, I’m a honest husband. you admit?”
“All husbands are honest, when their wives are around”
“I’m honest even when you are not with me. Admit?”
“That is an issue to be admitted by other women, not me”
“Every other women among our friends, has already endorsed my views”
“Then, why ask me?”
“They however said, let us talk on this topic, when Ammalu is around!”
——————————-

 
 
“If Parukutty comes, tell her that the vessel she wanted, is on the kitchen table ”
“Sorry, Ammalu. I can’t do that. I have taken a vow not to look at the face of ‘aparastree’, any woman other than my wife”
“I know that. She will enter the house walking backward or you walk backward and pass on the message. But, make sure, that by mistake, you don’t collide. As you always admire , her face is pretty but you may not be aware that her back is pretty strong”
———————————
“Are you mad, Ammalu?”
“Not till now, might go mad soon”
“Ha, ha, Ammalu, for fifty plus years, you managed your sanity to stay and why fear now?”
“For fifty plus years, I managed the kitchen without your shadow falling on it. Today, you came forward to help me and within ten minutes of your entry, every piece of kitchenware has changed its place. What has to be in the fridge is getting heated up in the oven and what has to boil for ten minutes is shifted to a corner in the fridge. Rice and dal are mixed; sugar and coffee seeds are mixed! Spoons are in the place for stove lighter and lighter is inside water filter! All these anarchy within ten minutes, SP. it will take three days for me to undo the damage you have done, in ten minutes”
“And not a good word about the trouble, I took!”
——————————————–
“Excuse me SP Sir. During your 10 minutes durbar in the kitchen yesterday, how did you manage to break my Chinaware? ”
“No, I didn’t”
“Then, where are those?”
“How do I know Ammalu? There were a dozen rats and mice in the cupboard”
“So, you opened the cupboard?”
“No, I didn’t . I could see their tail-ends through the door gap”
“There we go. So, the pests have eaten my crockery as well as your currency notes”
“What do you mean, you cunning old woman?”
“I happened to see some tail-ends peeping through the gap in your wallet”
————————-
 
 
Love,
SP
Sent from my iPad

“Is there any relationship between us, other than husband- wife, Ammalu?”
“Ye, dude. You ‘r the dad of our children and me, their mom”
“Your answer is not in Indian style”
“Was your question in Indian style, dude?”
“Dude, dude! What a rude way to talk to husband! Remember, I’m your Pathideva, God, Ammalu”
“So, there is one more relationship between us. Thank you SP for answering your question yourself”
————————————
“More I try to be away from you and the family ties, more you follow me, Ammalu. Not a good thing”
“It shows that you are not moving away from me at all but only doing pradakshinam around me. Good for me, good for you”
“How is it good for me?”
“I will hold you when you slip and fall. Others won’t”
“Why should I slip and fall?”
“As you watch my face and not your steps, while rotating”
“Greedy woman! Want always me, under your grip”
“I’m your wife, SP Thaliva, leader, not your husband!”
—————————————-
“If that slow -motion Nair calls, tell him I’m not in the house, Ammalu”
“Sorry I won’t tell lies”
“If his wife Ammini calls tell her I’m not in the house”
“Sure”
“Is it not a lie?”
“No, it is truth. Lie changes to truth, on purpose”
“Ok, I have never thought of another woman in my life- lie or truth?”
“Truth”
“How, Ammalu?”
“Lie changes to truth, on purpose. The purpose here was to extract that stupid question from you”
———————————–
“Ammalu, do you question God? No. Am I not next to God for you? Yes. Then, why do you question me? ”
“God enjoys any food I provide. If I make idli without asking you, you will question, ‘who asked you to make iddli?’ If I make dosa, you will ask, ‘don’t you know that I like iddlies ?’
From tomorrow on, I will take in writing from you whether you need iddli or dosa. I will keep a scribbling pad on your table, you write your preference every morning and escape from my questioning”
“Even God can’t do it everyday”
“You said, you are next to God. You never said that you are God”

“Old people are like toddlers, innocent and freedom-loving. Agreed, son?’
“They are like kids but not as innocent, dad. Yes, all would like to have freedom, young or old”
“Thank you, my son. Even partial agreement from your generation is a boon for us”
“Appa, come on. You ask for something. What is that?”
“I want to stroll this colony wearing a lungi or dothi, bare -chested or with a towel on the shoulder”
“Sorry, not possible, dad”
“Buy a ticket for Palakkad, my son”
“No airport at Palakkad, dad!”
“Then, to the nearest one. I can walk home, wearing a lungi or mundu”
“Tickets all sold off, dad. All parents who came here like you, wanted to stroll with lungies or mundus, bare-chested or with a towel on the shoulder”