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The LONG over due (with apologies to Ernest ) Velankanni! The second last chapter of this story. Stay tuned for the last of this series coming up in a week. Enjoy!
Guard Sidney.D'Monte woke them up at Tanjore Junction at eight o'clock,because it was the best place to have breakfast.Theres nothing like freshly made iddly,oolundoo vadai,uppma, with pieces of casewnut and (ghetti) coconut chutney and samba.Richards Mum and Dad enjoyed their "chapoos"(disposable earthen-ware cups) of --- what uncle Sidney said was "the best bloody coffee on the line".They arrived at negapatam at ten o'clock in the morning,said their good-byes to uncle Sydney and jumped into a tonga with all their luggage.
"Richard,sit in front with the tonga man" said his Dad, "No,I'm sitting with Mummy at the back"said Richard.His Dad and Mum burst out laughing.Richard was no fool,he actually used to love sitting in front,like all kids would. He would imitate all the"tchikk-tchikk" noises the tonga man made,use his thin stick and whip and press the plunger that made the well known ding-ding sound on the bell.Until one very,very flatulent horse changed Richard's life for ever.It never stopped pooping,big broad very smelly ones all the three miles home from "Robertsonpet shandy".never again would Richard sit in the front of a tonga.
They arrived at Mrs Lobo's house and could see Our Lady Of Velankani Church from her veranda.Richard's dad paid the tonga man and went down onto his knees to resume his Vow.They sat on the veranda and Mrs Lobo brought them cold lime juice.Richard got bored of the grown-ups chatting and went exploring the house.There
was a big garden with a lot of trees.That one looked like a mango tree and there was another one. A curry leaf tree was in a corner against the wall and as usual the drumstick tree was full of "kumli-boochees",the gooseberry tree was loaded and a few were scattered on the ground.
Richard picked up one ,blew the sand off it and put it in his mouth. Although it was ripe it was still tartish.you had to keep it between your teeth in your cheek and release the sour juice by gently putting pressure with your teeth on the gooseberry.Richard's eyes scrunched up tight,he tried to open them,but could only open one eye and that would only flap open and shut again,until he got used to that first squirt of sour juice,and then it would taste sweet.
He went towards the kitchen,an ayah was sitting on the step."wat baba, wat you doin,wat you name?"Richard", he said "whats yours"?"Chinnakovindai",she said.She had a mouth full of "vethlai-park" and was chewing noisily."I cookin chochi-curry for you,com see big big nandu".Richard went into the kitchen and as soon as his eyes got used to the dark,he saw two huge crabs coming towards him,he screamed with fear and ran out, back to the veranda."what happened Richard"said his Mum."Ma the ayah has two big monsters in the kitchen,and they were coming to bite me."
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BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN
Written by nanital0_1 on 2007-08-01 03:35:30
Thanks for this simply told story. It did bring back memories of a trip i made with my sisters and mother nearly 32 years ago. | Shukran Ernest !
Written by monique on 2006-10-02 11:28:55
Tx for the sweet praise. | Great !!!
Written by winstonkurt on 2006-10-01 17:38:27
Good stuff Ernest. | what can I say?
Written by ernest on 2006-10-01 16:57:11
I have been thrice blessed. A bloody hat trick. A full house.First, Domestic goddess -- sorry engineer.Then, The exalted winstonkurt!! and last but not least, creative Monique.Nirvana has come to me. yours Ernest Ignatius. | The Garden...
Written by monique on 2006-09-30 10:15:56
The best is the description of trees in the Garden. The Mango tree, Curry leaf tree ( i never seen one that grew to tree ) Drumstick tree that was full of kamli buchies, heehee, it's so true and they had black ants too. And the gooseberry tree, well all i could think of is the AI colloquial when one calls another 'Gooseberry'..hee hee hee  peace out !!! | Full Marks !!!
Written by winstonkurt on 2006-09-30 02:13:43
You need 3G's for bringing this to us.
Good Stuff
Good Days
Good Memories
P.S.: I would like to know the name of this author. | Nice work Brother!
Written by Florence on 2006-09-29 12:46:59
Those were the simple, wonderful, warm days. AIs took care of their community like family. Every paragraph of Richard's journey reminds you of the good times.
Thanks Brother for the happy memories.
Flo | Cheers!
Written by domestic engineer on 2006-09-28 12:16:34
Thanks for writing your story for any lay person to be able to read and enjoy and especially relate to! I grew up with these trees in our yard in Madras. The gooseberries did make us pucker up and got yelled at by our mother that our throats will become sore!! The Kumbli Boochies, ewww! my mother would get our servant boy "Ardie" to kill them with fire! He used a long stick with cloth wrapped around the top part and poured Kerosene on the cloth and lit it. Those nasty creepy crawlies snapped, crackled, & popped and fell to the ground!!! And chappoos that was a must every year we went to Vailankanni. My dad would buy me little miniature ones to take home to play "cooking" with my friends!
Thanks for the memories! And also looking forward to reading more! | Velankani here I cme
Written by Heidirego on 2006-09-27 11:03:48
Chochi curry brings back memories of going to the fish market and returning with 3 crabs. Once in the room they were inadvertantly left on the floor and they got loose and gosh how we ran around madly, not knowing what to do with the crabs running around too until two brave lads from next door caught them and popped them into the boiling water..Puttu and appams completed our meal later in the day. Elders did the praying we had fun after the family visit to Church.We met AI's from all over India and made good friends. Surprisingly all were connected with the railways. Today things have changed considerably. No tonga at all. | re: velankanni and KGF
Written by dHb on 2006-09-26 23:31:18
Excellent!!
The part about the tonga brings back memories of KGF - and I can attest to the flatulence!
I wonder if anyone from KGF remembers Kanta and his ancient car? We used to hire him to drive us to our 'farm'. Does anyone know what happened to him?
As to the Church of Our Lady of Velankanni, that is truly a wonderful, holy place. Sometime ago, I was in a mess (teenage years) and I travelled there to seek guidance. During confession, the priest asked me if I could read the gospel during the English mass and I was like stunned! All I can remember now is that I was so close to the Statue of Our Lady - I don't even remember what part of the Gospel I read, but since then, things started to sort themselves out in my life.
The only thing is that in 1987, Velankanni had become almost commercial with the shops and hotels that crowd the place, copared to when I was last there in 1976.
PS: I can't wait for the story to continue. Good work!!! |
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