Achan's food....yummmmmmmm. I can bet that our achan was the most creative cook. I am sure many women in our family were in awe of his culinary skills. And the best thing was he was quick, creative and passionate about it. His favourite passtime was to try new recipes in the late afternoons between lunch and evenings before he went to the shop. He was soooo good that till today my school and college friends tell me about the bajjis and pakodas they ate at my place. My cousin is ashamed that I did not learn to make biryani from achan. His recipes with leftovers were a winner among the three of us. He would just taste a curry and list out the ingredients that went into it. He taught me how to cut veggies without hurting my fingers, to make yummy dosas and many other things. Most of all he created this love for the art of cooking in all of us.
We never had the money to shop on MG Road or commercial street, in fact achan used to say I can't take you there cause people who go there have gunny bags filled with money. But whatever we wore, our friends and relatives always admired and praised. Achan would buy the dress material, design and get it tailored. Some of them were so popular among my cousins that they insisted they wanted the same outfit. Can you imagine kids of different age groups all wearing the same attire in different colours? ummm yuh yes, we have done that. My favourite was a denim skirt and checked shirt.
When we built our house, although we had a contractor, it was achan who planned the layout and took care of every single detail including the furnishing and paint. No experience whatsoever, he single handedly got everything done. We had our first duplex house in 1990. It was a great achievement considering our humble background. It was one of achan's proudest moments.
Craft work at school was always the most exciting and terrifying experience. We would be given this long list of unique things to buy and make. And our life saver was achan. He was so good at craft work and creative stuff. He would bring all the stuff we needed after closing the shop at 10 in the night, and stay awake till late in the night completing it to ensure we meet our deadlines. Mostly it was me who used to throw tantrums if things didn't get sorted, I would cry and go to sleep. In the morning when I woke up I would see my craft beautifully done and kept ready. Achan, our fairy would ask - is it good enough? - still smiling. I remember once i had to take 100 ice candy sticks to school and achan took me to this ice cream shop late in the night and the store person who was achan's friend gave it to us for free- and i thought wow achan has such great friends.
At another instance I had to dress like a coorgi bride groom for a fancy dress competition in LKG, it was achan who dressed me up. I just can't forget the pains he took to make the costumes and find out the coorgi translation of the script i had to read out....all in one evening. Those days there was no google to type in and click search.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Our teacher
Be it sharing stories about his childhood days or his adventurous journey through adolescence or inculcating moral values in us, achan was very articulate. As kids my sister and I used to have tiffs. Achan always wanted us to be united and never fight. He told us bed time stories , my favourite was about the 4 united cows and the lion who got them to fight, so that he could attack them when they were by themselves.
He would say thats why we should never fight cause we are stronger together as a family, but if we fight we become weak and vulnerable.
He used to show us examples of other kids when they took care of each other and played happily and peacefully.
He always said no matter how many quarrels we have, in times of need we will be there for each other.
"Family quarrels have a total bitterness unmatched by others. Yet it sometimes happens that they also have a kind of tang, a pleasantness beneath the unpleasantness, based on the tacit understanding that this is not for keeps; that any limb you climb out on will still be there later for you to climb back" ~Mignon McLaughlin
I really feel sorry for all those times when we hurt him. But I guess if not for those times we would'nt have learnt such a valuable lesson.
Achan instilled some strong values in us early in life which laid the foundation for our later years. An incident that will never fade from my memory is when I had got the first place in the class test in the first grade, I was so happy! Achan had come to pick us up from school and I was brimming with pride and joy. Achan smiled and congratulated me and then said; Never be overjoyed when good things happen and never get too disappointed when things don't turn out right. Always aim higher! Those words echoed at every improtant milestone in my life. Likewise we have never ever cheated in exams or to get jobs. Never have done and will do anything dishonest or dodgy even in dire circumstances. May be thats why we have this intolerance to people who want to have things the easy way in life, who lie and cheat even though it is harmless.
As kids every summer vacation was spent in Kerala. We visited other relatives but our headquaters as such was at our favourite aunt and uncle's. Achan would join us for a few days and get back to look after the shop. When we got back he had wraped our school books with brown covers with lables (which was compulsory then) and bought our school uniforms and shoes for the new academic year. He enjoyed doing little things like that.
Achan also wanted us to be well read and knowlegeable. He bought us expensive books and weekly magazines and tried to inculcate the habit of reading in us early. Not that we could afford it, but achan didn't want us to be deprived of anything. He used to occassionally quiz us on general knowledge too to create an interest in reading the newspapers. I guess when fathers take interest in these lil things children also feel motivated to do well.
We have always looked upto achan our hero because he always worked hard, never wasted time, lived an honest life and family was his universe. He set his own standards and lead by example.
He would say thats why we should never fight cause we are stronger together as a family, but if we fight we become weak and vulnerable.
He used to show us examples of other kids when they took care of each other and played happily and peacefully.
He always said no matter how many quarrels we have, in times of need we will be there for each other.
"Family quarrels have a total bitterness unmatched by others. Yet it sometimes happens that they also have a kind of tang, a pleasantness beneath the unpleasantness, based on the tacit understanding that this is not for keeps; that any limb you climb out on will still be there later for you to climb back" ~Mignon McLaughlin
I really feel sorry for all those times when we hurt him. But I guess if not for those times we would'nt have learnt such a valuable lesson.
Achan instilled some strong values in us early in life which laid the foundation for our later years. An incident that will never fade from my memory is when I had got the first place in the class test in the first grade, I was so happy! Achan had come to pick us up from school and I was brimming with pride and joy. Achan smiled and congratulated me and then said; Never be overjoyed when good things happen and never get too disappointed when things don't turn out right. Always aim higher! Those words echoed at every improtant milestone in my life. Likewise we have never ever cheated in exams or to get jobs. Never have done and will do anything dishonest or dodgy even in dire circumstances. May be thats why we have this intolerance to people who want to have things the easy way in life, who lie and cheat even though it is harmless.
As kids every summer vacation was spent in Kerala. We visited other relatives but our headquaters as such was at our favourite aunt and uncle's. Achan would join us for a few days and get back to look after the shop. When we got back he had wraped our school books with brown covers with lables (which was compulsory then) and bought our school uniforms and shoes for the new academic year. He enjoyed doing little things like that.
Achan also wanted us to be well read and knowlegeable. He bought us expensive books and weekly magazines and tried to inculcate the habit of reading in us early. Not that we could afford it, but achan didn't want us to be deprived of anything. He used to occassionally quiz us on general knowledge too to create an interest in reading the newspapers. I guess when fathers take interest in these lil things children also feel motivated to do well.
We have always looked upto achan our hero because he always worked hard, never wasted time, lived an honest life and family was his universe. He set his own standards and lead by example.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Our hero
Most children feel their achan is a hero..... we surely did...i think most of the kids in our extended family also believed jayamama was someone daring, outspoken and the 'go to' person.
He just had this impact on people. We felt he could'nt go wrong.
Be it a family vacation where things needed to be organised, or some crisis in the family or among friends, a relative in trouble, to bargain for something, mediate or negotiate, he was in the forefront.
But as a kid what impressed me the most was whenever mum found that a rat had managed to sneak in to the house, our saviour and protector was achan. Like I said he was the jack of all trades , he was an expert at trapping the mouse and attacking it and then holding the dead body of the rat in his finger tips to show his achievement. I would scream my lungs out like a gigantosaur had landed and was about to swallow us.
The auto rikshaw drivers in bangalore are famous for conning people by charging more. It was customary for achan to have an argument , almost a brawl with the drivers everytime we came back from kerala and took an auto from the station to home. And the minute achan raised his voice, leave alone the drivers , amma, we and even our neighbours got scared.
Like all kids we were scared of achan too. Never asked him to buy us stuff, amma was always the mediator. If we bought something without his consent, we were scared that he would tell us off for paying more or not bargaining. Since achan was a business man, he knew all the business tricks, prices for things and the margin too. So he always insisted that we bargain and never pay the MRP.
In 1981 achan started the shoe shop - New Fashion Foot wear. Achan named it himself. When I was 3 - 4 years I used to spend a lot of time with him in the shop. I used to watch him closely when he spoke to customers, outsmarted them when they bargained and got frustrated with silly customers. He was so passionate about whatever he did, gave a 200% and was confident that he was good.
Achan had many friends, being a business man meant having a huge network and achan sometimes knew so many people by faces but would not recall their names. I think most small business men in yeshawanthpur knew him. After gaining a firm foothold in the veggies business he had started oil and egg business, he brought his nephew from kerala and helped him also set up a shop. A couple of others who came to work in his shop also went on to become independent businessmen later on.
He just had this impact on people. We felt he could'nt go wrong.
Be it a family vacation where things needed to be organised, or some crisis in the family or among friends, a relative in trouble, to bargain for something, mediate or negotiate, he was in the forefront.
But as a kid what impressed me the most was whenever mum found that a rat had managed to sneak in to the house, our saviour and protector was achan. Like I said he was the jack of all trades , he was an expert at trapping the mouse and attacking it and then holding the dead body of the rat in his finger tips to show his achievement. I would scream my lungs out like a gigantosaur had landed and was about to swallow us.
The auto rikshaw drivers in bangalore are famous for conning people by charging more. It was customary for achan to have an argument , almost a brawl with the drivers everytime we came back from kerala and took an auto from the station to home. And the minute achan raised his voice, leave alone the drivers , amma, we and even our neighbours got scared.
Like all kids we were scared of achan too. Never asked him to buy us stuff, amma was always the mediator. If we bought something without his consent, we were scared that he would tell us off for paying more or not bargaining. Since achan was a business man, he knew all the business tricks, prices for things and the margin too. So he always insisted that we bargain and never pay the MRP.
In 1981 achan started the shoe shop - New Fashion Foot wear. Achan named it himself. When I was 3 - 4 years I used to spend a lot of time with him in the shop. I used to watch him closely when he spoke to customers, outsmarted them when they bargained and got frustrated with silly customers. He was so passionate about whatever he did, gave a 200% and was confident that he was good.
Achan had many friends, being a business man meant having a huge network and achan sometimes knew so many people by faces but would not recall their names. I think most small business men in yeshawanthpur knew him. After gaining a firm foothold in the veggies business he had started oil and egg business, he brought his nephew from kerala and helped him also set up a shop. A couple of others who came to work in his shop also went on to become independent businessmen later on.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Jayettan
Jayettan, Jayamama, Jaya kutty, Jayan - achane ellavarum vilicha perukal. Now reflecting on his name, I guess he was born a winner, a survivor. My favourite is Jayettan.
Born on 14 April 1948 in Kalladikode, the fifth child of Janakiamma and Gopala Menon, he grew up holding life by its horns. A humble living with his mother and seven other siblings; his father was away from home most of the time for work. Achamma used to work to feed all of them.
We have heard him speak fondly of his childhood days. Some things have faded from memory and some of them crystal clear.Like I still remember achan had studied only till 6th grade and he was his teacher's favourite student. He used to bring tea and snacks for the teacher and although he had done his exams well he was surprised to find out that he had failed. Later he realised that the teacher didn't want to lose his loyal tea bringer, so he failed him.
He was also active in the school dramatics. He had won the prize for the best actor for the role of an old lady :)
At barely 12 he left his family in search of work. Those days people hardly knew a world outside their small village or hometown. He had no money for tickets so he travelled without one, managing to slip into the toliet everytime the TTR came to check tickets. He met this slightly older boy in the train who was on a similar expedition and tagged along with him, after a few days of their adventurous journey they reached Bhilai. He started working in hotels as a waiter and slowly graduated to the Indian coffee house. Even in those early days he used to send his hard earned salary of 5 rupees by money order to his mother in Kerala. His days at the Indian coffee house brought out the culinary skills in him. He learnt a lot of the kitchen tricks which he would later pass on to us when we used to help amma and achan in the kitchen. Our favourites were french toast, scrambled egg, veg cutlet and all the umpteen innovative dishes he used to make out of left overs.
Don't know when he decided to come to Bangalore. But he ended up helping Thangappan mama , achan's older brother at a hotel. He sure did not settle for a job with the inherent entrepreneurial skills. He started a vegetable shop in the Yeshwanthpur market and supplied veggies to hotels.
Achan had excellent social skills. He would start a conversation with anybody old or young with ease. he even tried to speak their language to make them comfortable. His smile was like a reflection of his character - warm, sincere and generous.
I think he was 26 when he got married to amma(21). It was an arranged marriage. they only saw once before marriage. brought her to a single room rented house. When he went back to the shop after his return from Kerala, he had to start afresh. I know he did not even have money to buy the supplies. But he managed, the go getter that he is.
He was very hardworking. In the veggie business , the vendors have to go early in the morning to the wholesale market and bring fresh veggies for their daily supply. Since they did not have regular supply of corporation water achan woke up early to fill the water tank and then rushed to the market. Hardly took any days off work. No movies, no weekend outings.
Born on 14 April 1948 in Kalladikode, the fifth child of Janakiamma and Gopala Menon, he grew up holding life by its horns. A humble living with his mother and seven other siblings; his father was away from home most of the time for work. Achamma used to work to feed all of them.
We have heard him speak fondly of his childhood days. Some things have faded from memory and some of them crystal clear.Like I still remember achan had studied only till 6th grade and he was his teacher's favourite student. He used to bring tea and snacks for the teacher and although he had done his exams well he was surprised to find out that he had failed. Later he realised that the teacher didn't want to lose his loyal tea bringer, so he failed him.
He was also active in the school dramatics. He had won the prize for the best actor for the role of an old lady :)
At barely 12 he left his family in search of work. Those days people hardly knew a world outside their small village or hometown. He had no money for tickets so he travelled without one, managing to slip into the toliet everytime the TTR came to check tickets. He met this slightly older boy in the train who was on a similar expedition and tagged along with him, after a few days of their adventurous journey they reached Bhilai. He started working in hotels as a waiter and slowly graduated to the Indian coffee house. Even in those early days he used to send his hard earned salary of 5 rupees by money order to his mother in Kerala. His days at the Indian coffee house brought out the culinary skills in him. He learnt a lot of the kitchen tricks which he would later pass on to us when we used to help amma and achan in the kitchen. Our favourites were french toast, scrambled egg, veg cutlet and all the umpteen innovative dishes he used to make out of left overs.
Don't know when he decided to come to Bangalore. But he ended up helping Thangappan mama , achan's older brother at a hotel. He sure did not settle for a job with the inherent entrepreneurial skills. He started a vegetable shop in the Yeshwanthpur market and supplied veggies to hotels.
Achan had excellent social skills. He would start a conversation with anybody old or young with ease. he even tried to speak their language to make them comfortable. His smile was like a reflection of his character - warm, sincere and generous.
I think he was 26 when he got married to amma(21). It was an arranged marriage. they only saw once before marriage. brought her to a single room rented house. When he went back to the shop after his return from Kerala, he had to start afresh. I know he did not even have money to buy the supplies. But he managed, the go getter that he is.
He was very hardworking. In the veggie business , the vendors have to go early in the morning to the wholesale market and bring fresh veggies for their daily supply. Since they did not have regular supply of corporation water achan woke up early to fill the water tank and then rushed to the market. Hardly took any days off work. No movies, no weekend outings.
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