after a point ...be it a morning wedding or an evening event ...my 2 siblings and I would be ushered inside to have snacks as we were from outside Kerala and always treated as special guests ....
sometimes loads of these cakes would be bought in the grandparents homes ...in case of some event or for some get together in the offing...
since my siblings and I were never yelled at in Kerala by our aunts and uncles ...those days ....any pilfering of sweets, these slice cakes or even tender coconut and palm jaggery was our responsibility ...of the three of us siblings ...I used to get nominated most often to go get stuff ....as my paternal grandmother and I got on famously... there was an enormous amount of space to run around and play hide and seek and other games in my paternal grandmother's place and two houses in one compound ....ergo if we did something naughty in one house ...the entire gang of cousins would sneak off to my aunt's house ....if the prank we pulled was greater in severity ...we would all go off to an uncle's house a little distance away from my granny's place....
however two of my younger cousins would get very scared of a jackfruit tree near my aunt's house ....I could never understand why those boys would get scared of the dark and ghosts ....growing up in Pune there were no older cousins to scare us with ghost stories .... that happened only in Kerala ....we had more than 40 cousin brothers .... my paternal grandfather had two wives and 13 children ...and boys ruled the roost in that household .....fights were fought with Gusto .....and if all else failed ....I would go running to my dad's eldest sister and complain about All her six sons ....and my petite aunt would get a stick and come to check out her sons and her nephews ....her threatening them was the coolest thing for me ....
however two of my younger cousins would get very scared of a jackfruit tree near my aunt's house ....I could never understand why those boys would get scared of the dark and ghosts ....growing up in Pune there were no older cousins to scare us with ghost stories .... that happened only in Kerala ....we had more than 40 cousin brothers .... my paternal grandfather had two wives and 13 children ...and boys ruled the roost in that household .....fights were fought with Gusto .....and if all else failed ....I would go running to my dad's eldest sister and complain about All her six sons ....and my petite aunt would get a stick and come to check out her sons and her nephews ....her threatening them was the coolest thing for me ....
needless to say ....my cousins had Loads of horrid nick names for me ....since I did not know any bad words or slang words ....I would call them names of animals in Hindi ...the national language was a sore point with my cousins and we siblings would tease them about their pronunciations ....
the loudest fights were about how good Quilon( now it is known as Kollam) was as compared to Pune .... and it would usually end in we siblings being called Punewalas and chased around ....
evenings the fights would be about who made the best flower garlands for the Puja room .... even then there would be a minimum of two teams and competition as to who knew all the hymns and sang better ....my paternal grandmother would break up the fights often ...we siblings were always treated a little specially and that would irritate our cousins no end ....
evenings the fights would be about who made the best flower garlands for the Puja room .... even then there would be a minimum of two teams and competition as to who knew all the hymns and sang better ....my paternal grandmother would break up the fights often ...we siblings were always treated a little specially and that would irritate our cousins no end ....
once when my parents and siblings were in my maternal granny's place ...I was with my paternal grandmother ....and one night we were sitting in the veranda that went all around the house and it was made of cement ....my granny had rheumatism ergo I asked her to be carefull and go inside or else sitting on that cemented area would cause her to be bed ridden the next day ...to which my granny replied that she was really old and it was time for her to bid us her final adieu ....to which I replied that ....Granny it is only because you are there that we can come to Kerala every year ....in case something happens to you ...our touch with this land will end ....
my words moved her to tears and she talked about it for quite a few days ....what my 6 year old self said was spot on ....till my grandmothers were alive ...we kept going to Kerala and after they passed ...our touch with the place ended ....my dad sold his house and property and settled down in Pune ....
my words moved her to tears and she talked about it for quite a few days ....what my 6 year old self said was spot on ....till my grandmothers were alive ...we kept going to Kerala and after they passed ...our touch with the place ended ....my dad sold his house and property and settled down in Pune ....
some things remind me of the fun summers spent in Kerala ...this slice cake is one such thing ....it had a very unique aroma and I have tried N number of times to get the flavour and aroma of this cake right ...and have not been able to get it right .... I keep trying though ....
this I bought last year ....all thanks to technology ...it was sourced via a page on FB and I got all these sweets unique to Kerala from there itself ....the page Flavours of India helps people source eatables from different parts of India from the convenience of their homes .... the packaging is very sturdy ergo the food items reaches one in good shape and with the original flavours intact ....
this I bought last year ....all thanks to technology ...it was sourced via a page on FB and I got all these sweets unique to Kerala from there itself ....the page Flavours of India helps people source eatables from different parts of India from the convenience of their homes .... the packaging is very sturdy ergo the food items reaches one in good shape and with the original flavours intact ....
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