cow days

I was then studying in 6th or 7th std. We were staying in a agraharam. In Trivandrum it is called, theruvu. Our street was a single row of houses situated on the Airport road before the West Fort. Our back side was a palace where the King used to rest before welcoming the Lord on his return from Arat. The street houses are in a row and lengthwise. There was a front room, then a rezhi a dark room but very cool. Then comes the thalam lit by natural light from the top. It will be good to see rain water falling. Then the “Adukalai” (kitchen) Our kitchen is small. There would be a path outside the kitchen that leads to muttam and after some free space (where there is a thulasi thara) and then a small kottil (where the fire items like viraku (wooden pieces), onakka thondu (this is also used for homams, srai, kari etc etc. Thereafter the bathrooms. It is difficult only if we want to go there during midnights. We were very happy. There was a nelli maram, some coconut trees and a cow shed in the backyard. After the wall, there is the free land of the palace where grass grows thick and high. Our house was owned by one Nagamma mami, our relative. She is now no more But her husband is now 101. The old house was later demolished and a new modern house has been put up.
The house we lived was an envious location on the Arat day. The arat procession will begin by 5 pm and will go to Sankumughom beach and return by 9 pm. While the children were happy to see the 4 pm onward procession because their eyes will be on the balloons and dolls. The making of balloon dolls is an art. He fills the air in the balloon by a hand pump and then by twists and turns a monkey or pumpkin or many a thing would be ready by a few seconds. Then it is hanged on the stand by his side . The balloons is sold as hot cakes. Some children just keeps it and it shrinks the next day. Some balloons burst with a big bang and the child cries in fear. Those are scenes to be seen. My mother has to go on making tea and will be mostly in kitchen. Sometimes we will be asked to distribute the tea and we do it with pride..They drink tea and pass on comments that we wish to hear ..”Konthe ethila padikarai? (which class you study?) Chamathu (Good boy)
Then one day my father who loved cows, bought one, so that we can drink good milk. The milk man replies when he confronted with the query “Paal thanniya irrukke?“ the cows milk is not as thick as it was in his early days..it is because of the poor quality of punnaaku (cow food) or the bad grass fodder. But we never thought it would be this hard to look after a cow. The cow , a loving animal.. it has all the required buddhi (brain). It makes different sounds for different purposes and to different persons. We have to have an eye always on it. Before we go to sleep, father puts some ‘vaikol” dried grass. Sometimes, we have to put some more during the night also. In the morning the milking man. (karavakaran) comes by 6 am. We have to keep the shed always clean. The cow dung is taken to a pit and the gomuthram (cow urine – a great medicine) has to be washed away. The cow has to be milked twice a day. But the way it licks you, and looks at you, you will love it and a bond is created unknowingly. Once, the calf was a male and so my father decided to give it to the Sreekandeswaram Temple. Even after some two days, it rushes to us when we go there. I was in tears to part with it and especially when we hear that such calves are auctioned to butchers. (we have to kneel down before our great rishis who gave the concept of goshalas)
After some months the cow was sold and another new one was bought. When the cow stops producing milk, it is sold and a new one is bought). This one was ferocious. It became my duty to catch hold of the Mukku Kayaru (a string tied by piercing the nostrils) till the milking is over.
But I will be full of pride when I am ordered to take the calf to the Palace behind our house to have grass fodder. The small one will jump and run here and there with tail kept high. But I will keep the one end of the long rope in my hand. Some times I had to run to many shops to buy dried grass. The dried grass is usually brought in lorry and there are many ‘viraku kadai” which sells this also. One was in Kaithamukku there were some two or three around Sreekandeswaram.
Once, when we moved to a new house, there was only a mulluveli around our house. But our cow somehow got wild and went beyond this to some other’s property. It ran here and there and we tried different methods. We showed fodder, we called by the cow’s name. Nothing worked till my father came and just called it. That was our last cow.
The contractor who made the cow shed made it as a room where we used to sit when it is so hot outside.

Those were our COW DAYS.