I was just four or five years old. Valiammavan, the karanavar of the family told me we are having an important guest today, be a good girl and don’t go near the guests. I found grandma too busy that day.
Gopala Pillai our valiammavan was the karanavar from the earliest days of my memory till the joint family split and the property was partitioned among the members. It was when I grew older that I came to know more about him. He was a lawyer who never practiced. While he was a student in Madras Christian College, Mr. K P S Menon was his room mate and friend. This is mentioned in K P S Menon’s autobiography. He had great respect for Gopalachettan who was senior to him. But he didn’t appreciate Gopalachettan’s laziness and idle nature which is mentioned in the chapter ‘Madras’ in his autobiography.
A copy of all his books were sent to valiammavan with his signature.
Mr KPS Menon was serving as an Ambassador of India to Russia when he came to meet his old friend Gopalachettan. Valiammavan and his brother Pappachettan [everyone called him so] reigned the Poomukham and Padippura part of the house. There were chairs and easy chairs, tables and shelves full of books and cot and bed for their separate rooms. There was an attached bathroom too. The place was thoroughly cleaned on that day.
Valiammavan usually had only a small mundu as dress. On this day he wore a neat white shirt and new mundu. He had many white shirts in soft muslin fabric which he wore only on such occasions. Pappachettan was a Gandhian who wore only khadi. He too got ready to receive the reputed guests.
My grandma was the one who never had any rest. She too changed her dress. She was the symbol of purity. Her white dress, fair complexion, silver grey hair and ever smiling face had a charm of its own. She changed my frock and combed my hair.
Along with the hot vadas, chips and murukku, biscuits and cakes were bought from the bakery as per ammavan’s instructions.
There were no chairs or other furniture in the part of the house where women and children stayed. There were totally 4 or 5 cots in different rooms. The main hall which we called “thalam” was the one we all used. Gowri valliamma who had lost her eye sight was always present in one corner in the thalam. One of the wooden cot was for her. Another one was moved to the centre of the hall and wiped and cleaned.
Mrs Menon if she wished to meet the ladies of the house was to be seated there.
Before evening, Mr and Mrs Menon arrived and they were received and seated at Pappachettan’s room.
After a few minutes Mrs Menon got up and moved towards the hall. All women rushed to receive her. As she reached grandma, she kept a handful of something in grandma’s hands. Even though I was asked to keep away my curiosity made me peep into the hall. Mrs Menon noticed me and asked me to come and sit beside her. Then she took a flower from the handful of Chembaka flowers she had given to grandma and kept it on my hair.
All the time she talked to the ladies of the house, I admired her beauty. She was a charming lady. The chembaka poo still reminds me of her. She had one or two flowers on her hair. She had the complexion and fragrance of chembaka poo. She wore a soft silk saree in the color of a chembaka poo. She was the most gracious lady I met in my childhood, more than 50 years back.
My mother said Mrs Menon always had a chembaka flower on her hair. Coffee was prepared with great care and everything was served separately to both. When it was time to leave, Mr. Menon came outside the hall to talk to grandma. After they left, grandma kept the chembaka flowers in the wooden box where she used to keep her clothes. The fragrance of the flower always brings me back the memories of meeting a charming lady.
I’m not sure whether what I said is accurate but this is an episode of my childhood memory when the charming lady impressed me a lot. Even after so many years the mention of chembaka poo reminds me of Mrs KPS Menon…..
No comments:
Post a Comment