A limb across the Gulf indeed...beautiful post. Reminds me of my cuz's from Germany and how bored they were when they came down for a holiday because we had not yet arrived from Blr. After our arrival they learnt that Kerala was a giant amusement park. There is so much to see and do. They learnt a whole lot things besides making a ball from coconut leaf. Making small bubbles on hibiscus leaves and then bursting it on each others forehead, and a soft cactus leaf that can be split to make a bubble, or pouring water into a Yam leaf and making pretty pearly patterns and so much more... :)

I remember my dad making a quiver out of banana leaves! It was so cool.

wows..abhishek..you are such a talented writer..

two of my cousin sisters lived out of india and came only for their summer vacations..which was kind of their training period..you know how to climb trees, eat mango dipped in coconut oil-chilli powder-salt combo, catch fish etc..

I don't know what I was looking for, but I seemed to have struck a nerve because soon enough, Appuppan got up from his chair and stepped outside the house.

sounds like a familiar task...the one that we have in front of us at SK :) will we be able to make all those people get up from their chairs.

awesome man...even i used to begin every vacation in my native place cribbing about the absence of anything resembling a city...grandparents certainly are the link to our roots for most of us mallus...some of my strongest and still vivid memories of chilhood are those of the kaaranavanmaar and the vacations at my native places...superb post!

still remember this one time long back my appachan took me hunting...and we caught a rabbit...and how we both came strutting back home to display our trophy. my dad just cant digest it that grandpa and i are like best buddies!

One of my enduring memories is of the time I stole and tasted my grandma's vethhila and betel nuts. The headache I had for the rest of the day cured me of that habit.

Your post brought back some treasured memories. :)

@silverine
Yeah, our front yard wasn't that well tended (due to lack of manual labour), so banana trees, tulasi, thetti flowers and coconut trees were the only ones that grew there. Have you ever sucked the juice out those thetti flowers? Oh, Kerala is a veritable garden...

@mosilager
hehe, was your father a naxal by night and a citizen by day? ;)
j/k but my appuppan could make a mean bow out of a banana tree branch, so they must have been sakaakal...

@Mind
Nooooo...now you have started an irreversible chain reaction in my stomach that often ends in my salivating for those those things...in vain.

I like the analogy you drew for SK..so true.

@jiby
wow, did you grow up near a forest? I don't know if rabbits can be found in the wild anymore. You know despite all these environmental concerns, many indigenous species have disappeared from our native village. There used to be wild lotuses, frogs, parrots and so much more...

sachin
Old people have such nasty habits don't they? Hehe, I think as you age, your sensory organs grow number and you need a natural "high" to able to taste anything anymore...not that I would know that, at least not for another 35 years I hope.

Abhishek: Yes I have and me and bro have smoked my Grandpas beedi stubs too LOL

@silverine

Haha...how waz eeeet? Cough, cough...

Such a lovely post..brot back a lot of memories. My granddad too was famous for whipping up all sorts of things with ola and vazha leaves to the delight of his grandkids. My dad too has a talent for this and one of my favorite objects that he made for me as a kid was an ola watch (plenty of times) which I refused to take off till it fell apart. :)

And oh, I read in your response to silverine's comment that you like thetti flowers..are'nt those the lovely bunch of orange flowers (I always used to think they look like soldiers..all upright and grouped together)..I have by the way and it is awesome. :)

And silverine, I too have done the beedi deed...stubs more like it, but I have to tell you it was an experience indeed. :)

commented once before but my Internet connectivity decided to take a hike at that precise moment unfortunately. :(

Lovely post! Damn sweetof ur appupan.

And thanks fr visiting my blog! :)

Nicely done...loved the flow ! you've got some flair man. Its these small stuff that bridges the strangeness across generations, brought back so many memories...now that the old man is gone. thank you for the post :)

Lovely! Remember the days when our cuzs used to come from 'gelf' and we used to take them around the vast fields in the countryside for the feasts that they present.

That touch of coconut leaves being that limb across the gulf - Awesome!

u struck a raw nerve there....i just remembered that my grandpa had also made stuff for me with coconut leaves.. man!! i miss the guy..

loved this entry..it wasnt a big story..but a simple one with a excellent narrative..

Wow! U presented that story in a lovely way!