A Tribute to Paatti -Grandmom

Originally Posted by aproop

Dear Lakshmi,

A beautiful tribute to Paatti. thanks for sharing it here.

love,
anu

Dear friend

Hope you have enjoyed reading my memories. Thanks

Lakshmi

Originally Posted by LakNar

A Tribute to Paatti-grandmom

Lovingly as I call Paatti and our home as forty two ninety nine (that’s the number of the home)- I remember you as an Aishwarya Rai in that navy blue double side bordered parrot green silk madisaar which you willingly bought from one of the oldest shops in Chennai with your slim and tall stature and the eight -anna size kumkum adorning your forehead.. How gently and carefully you used Saibol before placing No.4 Sugandha Kungumam..

Will I ever get your gentle nature paatti.. ?

With house full of your sons, daughters, grandson and granddaughters you shouldered up all the chores and the only job that you gave your ‘pethis’ (my sister and myself) was to collect pavalamalli (I remember you shaking the tree with your tender hands) and chembarathai and colored December flowers for us ..in two large baskets and the patience to part it all with your audent neighbour as you refer as ‘doctor aathu mamikku kudu’.. I used to wonder why Paati should share the flowers as she has all along taken pains to water, dig pits for natural manure and clean around.. But now I realize how considerate you have been..

Before Diwali and before all of your heirs could arrive, you welcome them with tins of homemade savories just like the flowers blooming welcoming the Spring your handmade savory-filled ‘thookkus’ hanging on the String of bar in a row safeguarding from ants! We all know the first two small bronze (vengalam) thookku would contain sweets and the rest full of thenkuzal, ribbon pakoda, kai murukku, manoharam (thanjavur pattern) and thattai..Not to tell of the diwali Leghyam prepared by you and the plan executed by collected all the “saamaan” for leghyam well before..

Will I ever get that energy?

I cant forget the incident before a Diwali wherein the Bombay halwa which you attempted took avatar of Mysore Pak.. and the blush which you got when all of us laughed..

Summers are fun with yourself busy making vadams using riceflour, sago, ulundu mavu etc.. Ourself anxiously waiting for those delicious half-dried vadaams and eating it all in a jiffy only to have a terrible stomach upset waiting for your kashaaya marundhu. I still think of your possessiveness towards your son (my dad) hiding a ball of ‘vadaathu maavu’ fortified with extra chilli paste and lemon juice..

Remembering one more funny incident..

My paatti used to prepare kadalai urundai for which she has dried up the groundnuts in the courtyard.. Paatti had a habit of taking rest sort of nap in a palagaai (wooden board) drying her long grey hair spreaded over the palagaai with a copy of bounded old edition of “Kanaiyazhi”. She was doing so that day and suddenly she heard noise of somebody breaking groundnuts. For she knew my mom liked those raw groundnuts she kept on saying “Seetha do not eat them. It will upset your stomach”. But the noise continued and she rose only to find two mischievous monkeys right above eating those dried groundnuts. She screamed in panic and my thatha (who has just been from his court) rushed with a stick and it seems the monkeys ran as soon as they saw my thaatha (grandfather) and my Paati used to say “even monkeys are afraid of your thaatha”.. My thatha used to be a terror and he would know even if 1 anna is missing from the cups which he used to place on his round office table..

Will my son ever have such funny experiences?

Paati your kaivaidhyam is kankanda marundhu for us.. Once we all gathered for half-yearly holidays and being December all of us caught terrible cold. All the cousins were sleeping together with jute sack covering each one of us.. Early in the morning I didn’t get sleep and waked up my cousin and said “I felt something hot on my head in the midnight” Immediately she said she too have felt it. We were talking in the dark for sometime and went fast asleep when we heard my thatha waking up by 4 in the morning to start of the veneer (hot water) vembaa (boiler). Once dawn all of us woke up only to find a “herbal pathu” glued hard to all of our foreheads.. and It was then we understood that it was my paatti who made us feel something hot on our heads..

Now my head and heart too feel hot for missing you paatti..

Paatti if you have been with me today I will for sure made you logged into Indusladies.com and become an active ILite paatti..

I pray God should be much more considerate with all the paattis who are our living legends..and the real treasure of experiences..

Tributes
Lakshmi

what are human if they are never referred later in life, and how lucky is your patti to have a pethi like you to remember many of her details here, the sharing and glowing is life nice of you to bring her memories over...sunkan

Dear Sunkan

I thank you for that nice response.. I feel and I am thankful to this community to bring out the laurels of our wonderful kith and kin..

thanx a lot

rgd
Lakshmi

Dear Lakshmi,
your paatti is living in you, her dear pethi. You are really lucky to get such a paatti. Your aatti is my dream paatti- I am unfortunate that I had not even seen my paattis on both sides . Only my paternal grandpa was alive till I was 12 and I shared a special bondage with him. I envy you, dear, in good sense. I pray that I too am born your paatti's pethi in my next jenma.

Dear Varloo

That was really touching and we shall then be audent cousins or sisters sharing the best time.. Hope we will..

thank u

luv
Lakshmi

Originally Posted by Varloo

Dear Lakshmi,
your paatti is living in you, her dear pethi. You are really lucky to get such a paatti. Your aatti is my dream paatti- I am unfortunate that I had not even seen my paattis on both sides . Only my paternal grandpa was alive till I was 12 and I shared a special bondage with him. I envy you, dear, in good sense. I pray that I too am born your paatti's pethi in my next jenma.

Lakshmi,
A very nice tribute to your paati....even my paati is of the same wavelength like yours...when we (me and children) visit India during the summer, she would come from B'lore to spend some time with us...during that time, I commented to my mom., look who is being active..the 80s, 60s(my mom) or 40s, (me)...
during one of our tel.talks, (which I made it a point to talk to her every week or in 2 weeks) she told me that...."you are my friend, eventhough our ages differ...I can talk to you from a-z..' what more can I ask for??mmm

sriniketan

Dear Lakshmi,

Nice Tribute to your Paati dear ... : ... you are really very lucky to be in kootu kudhuthanam and have a lovely memories of being with your paati ... Me, a unlucky one, who havent seen my thatha paati from both my parents side since my birth as they died before my parents got married ... My kids, growing here, missing my parents(as they are in chennai) and the only love they get from my MIL who comes occassionaly to see her Grand children... Yenaku thaan kedaikala, Yen pillaikallukumaaa...? ... soon my parents will meet my kids next month on our three weeks vacation trip to chennai ... hurrraaay ...

Dear Lakshmi,

A Great Tribute to your Paati dear... You have written soo nicely..

Thanx for sharing with us..

Originally Posted by Sriniketan

Lakshmi,
A very nice tribute to your paati....even my paati is of the same wavelength like yours...when we (me and children) visit India during the summer, she would come from B'lore to spend some time with us...during that time, I commented to my mom., look who is being active..the 80s, 60s(my mom) or 40s, (me)...
during one of our tel.talks, (which I made it a point to talk to her every week or in 2 weeks) she told me that...."you are my friend, eventhough our ages differ...I can talk to you from a-z..' what more can I ask for??mmm

sriniketan

Dear Sri

No Sri you are also active and the purpose is to make all of us enjoy our paatti's memories which will lost for ever..

Hope you enjoyed and thanks a lot

luv
Lakshmi

Originally Posted by lahy15

Dear Lakshmi,

Nice Tribute to your Paati dear ... : ... you are really very lucky to be in kootu kudhuthanam and have a lovely memories of being with your paati ... Me, a unlucky one, who havent seen my thatha paati from both my parents side since my birth as they died before my parents got married ... My kids, growing here, missing my parents(as they are in chennai) and the only love they get from my MIL who comes occassionaly to see her Grand children... Yenaku thaan kedaikala, Yen pillaikallukumaaa...? ... soon my parents will meet my kids next month on our three weeks vacation trip to chennai ... hurrraaay ...

Dear lahy

Dont worry and I could understand the nostalgia you have for your grandparents.. I was too lucky to have my paatti however its since a decade she reached the heavenly abode of God..
I thought Its worth sharing with my "going to be" paattis.. the lighter part of it

have a nice "porandhaam" trip//

Lakshmi