Memories Oh Memories ..

Still on the topic of holidaying in native, we cousins used to play a whole lot of outdoor games.
There always used to be Maantav ( roof over the open area outside the house, usually made with dried coconut tree leaves,by braiding the leaves together). This roof is supported by wooden poles and we would play a game called Khambya-aata ( khambe meaning poles and aata meaning play/game) . Wonder what they actually call the game. Most of the games just involved running here and there and hiding , but it was always a whole lot of fun. And after a tiring game , we would be ready for some chilled cold drink ( Ramsons, a local drink), which was always stocked up in summer. The cold drink also had a fun element. We used to put some salt in it n then it would froth up like a volcano and the taste was just amazing( salt was easily available since they used to sell salt which was made there ). I would love to write sometime on the making of salt and the place where they make it, called meeta-agra in konkani.

And not to forget the whole lot of Raaj-aavaale ( Gooseberries ) and Karmbal ( Star Fruit ) trees that we would climb and often get bruised, but yet relished the sour and tangy fruits.

Summers for our grandparents also meant getting ready the Happal ( Papad ), Lonche ( pickle) and the different varieties of Vadi ( sun-dried items) for the monsoons and sending their daughters also stocked up with the whole lot of stuff. So, being joint families and the big families, you can imagine the quantities prepared and the amount of time and energy that went into making all this. Therefore, we as kids also had to do our part of taking the rolled-out papads and drying them out in the sun on the maandris (straw mats). Some of us kids would roll out the papads a little ( called haapli ) and then pass them on the elders to roll out into bigger and whole papads. And at the end of it, we would get to make our own nevri with it, putting a little flour and oil in the rolled out papad and closing it to make a half-moon shape and eating it just like that.Nowadays, ofcourse with age and technology, happal comes to homes ready-made from small scale industries. But till date, the papad dough with a little coconut oil is what I relish most and wouldn't trade it for anything. Yummmmmmm.....

I didn't realise the value of all this unless I started seeing how my 3yr old son is always longing for some company or always wants me or my husband to play with him. Sure, I dint have all the amazing toys or video games my son has now, but think I had much more than that. And that too in a country far away from India, I sure feel bad for him for missing out on these simple pleasures in life....

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