“Kanna Mama”

Nurani Village,Palakkad,Kerela…..somewhere around 1997

I was born and brought up in north…But somewhere I am emotionally connected to my origins…Nurani…Where my parents were born and lived before settling down here..Nurani is a small sleepy village…some 200 years old with Iyers constituting the majority of the population…a mix of tamil and malayalam can be found here..The village itself has an interesting history…

And Mr.N.V.Hariharan belongs to the same village…my maternal uncle, he was in his mid-40’s at that time..but never did he lack the energy…We went there almost every year for around 15-20 days during my vacations and that was the best time I had. With the charming Mangalore-tile covered houses..their  pitched roofs and kerela monsoons….The village has a “Kovil” or a temple dedicated to lord Ayappa at the centre of it…which was thronged by devotees every morning and evening….which I was reluctant to visit ,the reason being that in hardcore traditional south indian temples men are supposed to wear “Veshti –Mund” the traditional attire of Kerela and remain bare-chested….However..it was a soothing place…with a lake(kollam) behind it …where the bathing ghats were built…

“Kannan” was my uncle’s nickname since childhood which was now shortened to “Kanna Mama” and he was known in the entire village by this name…He suffered from elephantiasis…in one foot..so he never wore any shoes or chappals and roamed in the entire village like this…My vague memories of him go back to the time when I was just 7 years old.Still unmarried ,he had refused to marry despite the persuasions of family members and lived alone…and the only love which he had was for me and my elder sister…whenever we went there…He always used to come up to the railway station to get us…with other relatives being too “busy” with their material state of affairs..well..That’s another story…

Every morning I would get up and wait for him and he took me to the nearby lake..where a vendor used to sell “aapam” which is a close derivative of a dosa..served with tomato and coconut chutney on a banana leaf….i still relish the taste and feel of it!!then he took me through the entire village clutching my hand tightly and stopping here and there just to have a conversation with the other “mamas” of Nurani…..or to stop and share some “Vettalaya-pak” (Paan)  with the others…

Then we came back and I waited till the evening for my next outing with him…I saw the village through his eyes, and despite the fact that he was alone, I never saw him unhappy….and he is always a special part of my childhood memories at Nurani…

Each house in Nurani is built in the authentic Kerala style …with houses being “Long” in profile rather than being horizontal…I loved that house …it was majestic…with the 200 year old worn out tiles and then a well in the backyard…and not to forget , the never ending coconut trees at every house…Kanna mama used to draw water from the well and sometimes just threatened me for fun-“I will throw you in that well”…

And I always targeted him for my demands ranging from toys to delicacies to sweets..and he never refused me anything, and then whenever we departed from Nurani, I cried so much ….even 15-20 days can make such an impact on a child’s mind…

Well…the departure announcement was made and we went away far from the place …from our home town to our current home town..Ghaziabad…But for days to come after we came back..my mind was still somewhere in Nurani..i missed those “aapams” for breakfast and roaming around with “Kanna mama” for days to come until my school reopened …..