Laali In the suburbs of Udaipur, at the foot of Aravali mountain range, on banks of river Gomati, there was small well-planned mines colony – Zawar . In the center of the town, there is a long-cemented bridge connecting the New Market to Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) hospital. The largest one in the vicinity of Zawar to Udaipur. The straight road had the company guest house in the middle which ended at Naka Bazaar – the end of the town. Up straight on the road from the guest house lead to the officer’s colony on the top of a small hill which was almost cut off from rest of the town with few officer’s families residing in an array. Here everyone knew everyone from end to end. All the kids went to school together and played cricket or 7 stones in the evening. Mummies made papad (dried crisps), achar (pickle), sweaters, quilts together depending on the season in continuum. Dads worked in same places and played badminton together in the guest house on most of the evenings. There w...
The Hair-loom My grandpa Ramakrishnan had a floor mill. The mill had a Shikakai (seeka) grinder as well. Dried Shikakai, Amla, Ritha, hibiscus etc. were ground together for washing our hair. Those days people seldom used shampoos. This powder was part of every household in the KGF town. Every Sunday morning was a hair bath day. Panjamani Atthai* or Panjattey worked in our floor mill and washed our hair every Sunday with seeka. Being the youngest, I was the first in queue followed by Rohini akka* (Chittappa’s daughter), Madhangi akka (Gowri Atthai’s daughter) and Selvi akka (Mathi Atthai’s daughter). After a long hair wash with sneezes and burning eyes, the hair was rolled up in bun with thin towel. Next, it got fumed with Sambrani smoke. Then, I drank kashayam* as shikakai cools the body and I caught cold easily. All of us sat in a row to get a small plait on our head crown leaving the rest of the hair free called as thenneer jada*. It resembled the flow of a water s...
# Pencil sketch by Maa : Dad and Me She wrote to Dad : My Dearest, Good Morning! Today 20.5.21, Saranya's Birthday. Recall the days when we used to celebrate our children's birthdays. Those were the golden days, never going to revert. Only thing we could do is wish and give some gifts. Always a father's girl sticking to you till your last breathe. As in the image, I still remember, I bought you a 'T' shirt which suited you very much. Even the colour was the same for sure. Saranya had a very long hair when she was a little girl. I always plaited them and never did cut. Now couldn't bear to see her thin hair. For me, this particular sketch reminds me of Zawar quarters on the uphill roads. All has disappeared today as you. Undoubtedly, you are always with us. Some day she will live a life that we both dreamt dear. Yours, Durgakulo.
Comments
Post a Comment