Kerala Diaries - Nostalgia Lanes

Location: Poothotta, Kerala
Date:  Thursday December 21, 2017
Time: Approximately 6:38 am

Searched "Starbucks Music" on YouTube...and listening to a soundtrack that is 3 hours 31 minutes 22 seconds long audio as I am typing this post.

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For as long as I can remember, I eagerly waited for holidays to be with my cousins at our ancestral homes (Tharavadu) in Kerala. Whether it was my dad's or mom's tharavadu, both homes were like a giant treasure chest filled with fond memories. Before my family moved to Canada, my childhood memories and games were shared with people who found it hard to fathom "what ifs". Not going to lie, the ignorance was a pure blessing. We were just a bunch of kids who unknowingly smiled with our hearts and created memories that still brings a ray of sunshine every time I think about it. It is ineffable.

I remember it like it was yesterday:

-Improvising anything and everything and using imagination to not waste a second on games.
-Using a wheel tire and a stick to see who can roll it the farthest.

-Learning how to ride a bicycle right after our afternoon nap.

-Catching dragonflies and compete with each other to see who caught the strongest dragonfly by letting it pick small stones.

-Listening to bedtime stories but we all knew we fell asleep right after our uncle read the first sentence.
-Collecting manjadikurus - I really don't know the translation for the word, so for the time being I will just call it "magical seeds from India".

-Rosary time when half of us are trying to sneak a laugh in but still look devoted to prayers when grandma is looking.
-The faint smell of grandpa's Cuticura powder every time he gave us hugs. 
-Playing with marbles and kallukali (a game played with 5 stones - that's a pretty good description of the game😅)

-Learning how to swim by just jumping into the pond (supervised of course).

-Different types of serials aka TV dramas that made no sense.

-Learning how to apply eyeliner from older cousins.

-Getting gifts for every holiday and comparing who got the best.

-Speaking of holidays - Onam - arguing about whose Pookalam design is the best for the first one hour only to settle for the same design from previous year.
-Speaking of Onam - banana leafs and payasam!!! 
-Gathering around when it is time to cut open ripened jack fruits and get a whiff of that distinct fruity smell.
-Eating 5-10 mangoes (not slices but whole mangoes) per day and making it a personal mission to see if I can eat one more than the previous day.
-Asking someone to climb the coconut trees any time you wanted to drink karikku/elaneer (tender coconut water).

-Coin flipping to see who gets to go on the homemade wooden swing first and then timing it.

-Pretended to drink "sipup" (also known as freezies) but waited until everyone was done so you can make the rest drool when you are drinking the last 0.5ml in front of them.

-Taking grandma's good white towels to go fishing only to ruin all of them (we never learned after all these years).

-Picking jasmine flowers and attempting to make hair flowers.
-Climbing chambakka trees and guavava trees because staying on the ground is mundane.
-Making paper boats every time it rains and playing in the puddles.

-Playing cricket, musical chair, tennis, badminton, hopscotch, hide and seek, tag - whatever it was rules didn't matter because the amount of fun was proportional to the amount of arguments.

-Slowly walking to our church for Sunday mass after the first bell rang and wonder why we are always 20 minutes late.

-Speaking of Church - Midnight Christmas Mass - Lost the count of how many times I drooled during mass, specifically during the homily time.
-Speaking of Christmas - grandmother's Christmas fruit cakes - I can't find words to describe how great it is.

-Playing Cards - no explanation needed - this is a family tradition, you will at least know how to play one game if you interact with any one of my family member.
-Walking with cousins to the nearby stationery store to buy "one item" so we can all get candies. 
-Speaking of candies - naranga mittai (lemon/orange candies), jeera mittai, and GEMS - these colorful flavors were something for both our eyes and taste buds.
-The aroma of different curries coated with spices but had traces of grandmother's, mother's and aunt's love.
-All the cousins sleeping in one room after attempting to listen to "ghost stories".

With all these childhood memories etched in my mind, there is still a part of me that wishes to go back to those days. That part of me is convinced that these memories with the same people will lose its value as the days pass by. It happens, we all change and evolve. We grow, change our priorities, let go of all our irrational beliefs, quality of innocence and slowly grow into self-consciousness. I  mean I changed and it's a reality I can't fight.

So past December when I visited my tharavadu (ancestral homes) in Kerala after 5 years, I had this profound realization. No matter how old you are, certain people in your life (family or friends) can still remind you that nothing has changed regardless of time, place, and distance. They will remind you that it is still okay to cry like a baby, laugh like a goof, play like a kid, be curious like curious George (is the blog post cheesy yet 😄), talk like a kid, fall and make mistakes like a kid so you can get up regardless of your age. Even more importantly, they will convince you that they will be there with you to create new memories while holding onto the old ones.



Until next memories

A, Ben.