The Kunnumkulam I knew as a child gave me the Alice in Wonderland feeling, where Cinderella ran down every flight of stair without her slippers, not one but both.
Other than the hospital I was born in, I had never seen a structure bigger and in multilevel, a terrain with hills and plateau, I ran all over, the many flight of stairs, the steep driveway to the main road which lead to the famous Guruvayoor Temple. The long verandahs with the half wall wide enough for any one of any size to have a siesta any time of the day or night enjoying the soothing breeze that came past, scented with steel and iron, the high ceiling workshop with ventilators on top to let every bit of sun’s rays inside which reminds a green mat in movies.
The house was so palatial it stood tall and tight, it reminded me of the Little Lotto, comic character of my times ‘60s to ‘90s who just fitted into the dress, so tight, with little bulges all over, the house was fitting into the width of the property, with absolutely no space to spare unlike the houses we have now with the building line that maintained clearance on all sides. I can’t remember walking through or even squeezing a nail through the sides of the house.
My memories of the house is so mixed it keeps jumping from one thing to the other, emotions and people all over, comes to the canvass in front of my eyes projected from deep inside, I can feel every single member of my family and friends a lot of them, a lot of them, and very talented respectable people in various walks of life who visited, lived and made a mark in this world.
This place was like a dynasty, it was a pilgrimage, and this was a place everyone visited as a mark of respect, where life was written and experienced in black and white, reels of everlasting scripts were created in celluloid and color.
This was the place where everyone spent a day and a night after their wedding, a place you cannot go on a flying visit and return. Where you have to pack your bag and go.
For my Amma it was her haven to be close to her older sister and the towering Chettan. Where she could be pampered, where she learnt to keep her pride dealing with her sister!!!!.
This is where I received my first mail, the first inland, the first letter, from my Appa, but it was an ode from the Cat at home a feline mail, slightly treacherous mail, which was delivered right across the window of the post office. The post office was sitting smack on the wall near the entrance of the house and I believe we could reach out through the window to the post man, from under the bilimbi puli tree.
Receiving a letter was always a celebration, however the cheer was short-lived and soon everyone started tearing going through the content of the letter.
The letters were faded in the tears of the cat, who was scouring every room at Kollam, looking for me, looking for my pink fingers, my long pointed nose bigger than my face, my pink gums which was always out, my little chuckle which made my cat sure I was happy,
My cat was feeling lonely and missing me and didn’t know what to do.
Valiappachen was a man of wits, very practical man, he drafted a reply asking the CAT to take the next available train and come to Trichur, and said the CAT will be picked up by our beloved Chakkettan and will be brought to see me.
This was all that was needed, next thing we all know was my Appa was at the front of the house with an AIR BAG.
When I was growing up, it was an ordeal to get Men to come and stay in the family homes of their better half, it affected their pride and ego to go stay overnight, they mostly behaved like the Amazon courier service, drop and go, and when Valiappachen sent the invite it made a lot of people happy and relieved. For Amma she didn’t have to pack and leave before experiencing the warmth of her sister and adorable chettan, and with my Amma around it was truly ARAM + ARAM = KINNARAM wherever she was.
Valiappachen and Valiammachy had all set, the arena for the assembly sessions and didn’t want to lose the time of their life with live entertainment, where everything was debated, resolved, discussed. My dearest sister my one and only older cousin had mixed emotions!! not knowing whether I would affect her solitude or add charm to her set lifestyle.
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