Golden Oldies !

I think old people look very beautiful. Not in some smouldering or hot sort of way of course, but, you know......in a cute and crinkly way. And i like spending time around them, listening to what they have to say, most of which are memories of the good old days.

The stories that my paati (mom's mother) has told me - seriously good :) and all real life stories.

There's this one that's titled "Saleththu amma shaani aducha kadhai". I'm very sorry dear non Tamil readers (if there are any of you), the best translation i can give is "The Salem mother dung throwing story" :)

My paati's family hails from Kumbakonam, and this story is about her grandmother (my ellu paati) whom everyone referred to as salethamma. In those days the common practice was to clean up the dining floor with varati (dried cow dung). My ellu paati did that, and casually, she strolled to the thinnai (the front portion of the house), and flung the used varati. And WHAM! It hit a poor guy passing by the house. I think my ellu paati bolted inside :)

My paati has 4 brothers, and all elder ones. The doctor who tended to my kollu paati's deliveries seems to have been a pretty pro feminism guy. By the time he attended to the 4th delivery, he was like - "hmmph! innoru payyan" And when my paati was born, she was the apple of everyone's eyes.

She often talks about how it was living with 4 brothers. The first was jovial, the 2nd extremely naughty, the 3rd very strict, and the 4th a bit serious. One brother clucking around like a mother hen i've experienced, but four!

They were very lucky that Kumbakonam was spelt "Cumbakonam" in those days. Imagine my paati's family having the initials K.D ! They escaped with C.D.

And then there were the other incidents like "How paati drank kerosene by mistake", "The unbreakable paniyaaram" etc. etc. that are always so nice to listen to. My paati once confessed that she actually had doubts about marrying my thatha because he had a kudumi ! And honestly, i don't know if there's a cuter couple than them.

All this is just one part of what one of my paatis had to say. I've been treated to a lot more anecdotes from my other grandparents and their siblings, not to forget some of the older neighbours and a few strangers as well. Their stories are like windows into the worlds that we have never seen.

I've learnt not to underestimate the bokka vaays. There might be wisdom, or there might be senility, i don't know. But if you can get them talking, there sure is a good story most of the times :)