Nurungukal contd.....

I still remember how I was carried to the school on the first day. Achuthan Nair carried me on his shoulder. He was not only a cook but a friend to all of us . He was our play mate. Often we played pebbles which was a craze at that point of time. He got me lozenges on the way.

He came from a place called Mookuthala. This is from where lot of house maids came to Ponnani. Mookuthala is known for many things. There is a  famous Goddess Temple and Pakaravoor mana. The temple each year conducted a festival which attracted many from far and near. Caparisoned elephant, bullocks made out of hay added the atraction.  Once me and my kid brother Rajan had the luck to  witness the episode.We enjoyed it to the last -a fire work and display of colours. Even the trip was fascinating. We had to cross two rivers in boats.Pulikka kadavu and Ayila kkadavu and the rest on foot. Tea and snacks from a village tea stall was exhilarating. The way tea was made is peculiar. From one mug to another a meter long brew fall is a thing of the past. My elder brother Balettan jokingly used to say that  one such tea maker wrote his name with the falling brew.