It giving me immense joy to remember and connect to ancestors from both Appa’s and Amma’s side, its adding lot of value to my goal and purpose in life.
Appa’s mother hailed from Kaniyamkulam family in Kottayam, even though my grandparents passed away when Appa was very young, I had the opportunity to meet her brother and sister’s children my uncle and aunts, Appa’s cousins.
Mammy Ammachy the oldest of Appa’s cousins and her husband Police Uncle lived in Muvattupuzha, in the family home.
Appa had his first lessons in swimming, in the Muvattupuzha Aaru (River); name signifies the meeting place of three rivers, Triveni Sangamam.
Appa had very fond memories of this house and the surroundings where he swam to his heart’s content and ate his favorite fish Vaala (Boal Fish), for me this fish looked like a flat serpent and there were two varieties Mullan with tiny thorns all over and Plain Vaala, but Appa loved Mullan most, Amma made it a point to get it whenever she went to source fish. At home it was more of sourcing fish as the quantity of fish we consumed was on the higher side.
When he took me to the ancestral home once, we walked by the river, so virgin with leaves of various trees living in harmony reaching out to Sun light., I can never forget the mouthwatering succulent mangoes which fell by the river with every wind that blew, causing ripples of joy, oozing the deep yellow pulp between ones fingers.
Then there was Canada Ammachy who lived in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, These are places I would never have known otherwise, I had the opportunity to visit Canada later in my life.
Lizenkutty, that’s what my Appa called her, another sister, married to V. M. Augustine, Ammachy and Achachen as I fondly called them, showed me an illustrated weekly which published an article of their controversial love marriage. They were two freedom fighters during India’s Independence.
Illustrated Weekly was ‘The Magazine’ when we were young, the oversized magazine, in news print and filled with ‘Font 11 Size’ information. It’s no more, extinct like Kodak films and the last White Rhino, Sudan who passed away this year (2018) on my Appa’s birthday March 19th.
Achachen retired as the Director of Municipality and Panchayat in Trivandrum. They had 3 sons, Ettan, Aniyan and Alosh.
Alosh lived to breathe cricket. Aniyan my age, mastered in Agriculture from Allahabad.
I can never get over the great times I had with them and the 1983 World Cup, India playing finals under the leadership of Kapil Dev, hero of the nation. Alosh made sure he ran a tutorial on the rules of Cricket, to prevent my never ending questions on how many runs and who was OUT, all of us cuddled together on a bed in front of the black and white TV, munching the non-stop supply of goodies Ammachy used to make.
She never stopped manufacturing snacks. My introduction and initiation to Indian sweets like Jilebi and laddu was at her place; she was too good in literally manufacturing not just making, sweets and savory. The quantities needed to feed and pack for 3 boys and their friends who feasted on her sumptuous snacks were huge.
Being the eldest in my family I had always longed for an older brother, Ettan was the first one in the family. He was truly the best. He was a great student and a role model, studied in Lawrence, Ooty, IIT Bombay and IIM Ahmedabad. All with scholarships and laurels. He was a hero for all and immensely talented, so down to earth and most loving, he lives with his family in the west coast of US.
Lizen Ammachy passed away on my birthday couple of years ago, I miss her.
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