Trikkur Days - Puzhai
Trikkur Puzhai or Manali Puzhai flows behind our house in Trikkur. It meanders its way past Anthathu Mama's house to our house and then to Porangavu Temple and flows further down past our Thopu and Paadam. We have a 'kadavu' or a bathing ghat so we can approach the puzhai from our backyard.
The view from the puzhai is lovely - there are coconut trees lining the banks on either side. And since the stream meanders a bit, we have an incredible view of the donwstream and upstream.
The puzhai has its own cycles - during the monsoon, the stream has muddy brown waters and there are currents, during the summer the waters are tranquil and green and quite deep until the waters are pumped out for irrigation purposes, when the waters recede from the shore and there is only water in the deepest. Cocunuts, mangoes and thenga mattais fall into the river and it is nice to catch a good one. Of course we are lucky they don't land on our heads instead!
Once we descend into the tranquil waters of the puzhia, it is absolute bliss. The joy in swimming across the puzhai and back, of diving from the raised platform(which Raji used to excel in) or generally floating about in the puzhai are hard to describe indeed. Most of us learnt to swim here, usually with two coconuts tied together by a coir rope(the life saver) and sometimes the rubber tube which would topple. And Chithi has been the GURU to most of us. We learnt not to sink and gradually picked up the techniques of swimming.
The Puzhai waters are cold and there is this first bit of hesitation to get in and soak. Often someone would take the plunge and then they would try to splurge water on the rest of us. The surface sometimes had mattai pieces and leaves etc and we would try swimming and move it away, but it would always come back with the wind and we would try swimming and clearing it again.
After two or three hours of soaking in the puzhia and swimming, we would reach a stage where lifting a finger would become near to impossible. At times such as these, Amma, Leela Chithi or Athais would pesangi Sambhar Chadam, thayir chadam in the big aluminium kundan and we would sit around them in a semi-circle and gobble down the food. And it would taste incredible!
We had some good friends as well - like the four-legged drawer insect which moves around on the water creating lovely straight lines. And the water-snake which used to be a frequent visitor and we were convinced it was a male, because it came out only when the females went to Puzhai especially in Anthathu Maam's house. And the lovely blue king-fisher. And also the fishes! The fishes in the puzhai would bite our feet and it gets quite tingly. Sometimes they do get nasty and give a big painful bite. They are supposed to eat away all our dead cells and keep our feet clean. So we would wait, not moving and the fishes would come, but if we made a small movement, they would go away. It did require a bit of a self-control to keep still.
The Puzhai was the place to socialize as well. In addition to our family, Ramanadan Mama's family would sometimes come, Anthathu Manni's would come etc and we all shared stories and news.
Sometime a lovely long boat would come from the Paalam and go down-stream. And how can we forget the 'VAYA NOKIS'or MLAs - of whom we were perpetually scared of and we would implore Chithi, Mani, Athais to shoo them away.
The water in the Puzhai is so incredible, we all would start to glow and our complexions really improved just after a couple of days in Trikkur.
We were not allowed to go near the Puzhai during noon and after twilight. But the rest of the times, we were mostly there - chatting, singing, eating.
When we go to the Trikkur house, the Puzhai is the first palce we go to, we at least wash our legs and enjoy and soak the view. And for me it is one of the most peaceful places on earth and continues to be along with the view from the periya kovil kunnu.
The Puzhai was one of main attractions and center-points of our lives at Trikkur and continues to be so even today. Like the puzhai, our memories continue to meander by the Trikkur house and slowly each of us continue to find out own different paths.
The view from the puzhai is lovely - there are coconut trees lining the banks on either side. And since the stream meanders a bit, we have an incredible view of the donwstream and upstream.
The puzhai has its own cycles - during the monsoon, the stream has muddy brown waters and there are currents, during the summer the waters are tranquil and green and quite deep until the waters are pumped out for irrigation purposes, when the waters recede from the shore and there is only water in the deepest. Cocunuts, mangoes and thenga mattais fall into the river and it is nice to catch a good one. Of course we are lucky they don't land on our heads instead!
Once we descend into the tranquil waters of the puzhia, it is absolute bliss. The joy in swimming across the puzhai and back, of diving from the raised platform(which Raji used to excel in) or generally floating about in the puzhai are hard to describe indeed. Most of us learnt to swim here, usually with two coconuts tied together by a coir rope(the life saver) and sometimes the rubber tube which would topple. And Chithi has been the GURU to most of us. We learnt not to sink and gradually picked up the techniques of swimming.
The Puzhai waters are cold and there is this first bit of hesitation to get in and soak. Often someone would take the plunge and then they would try to splurge water on the rest of us. The surface sometimes had mattai pieces and leaves etc and we would try swimming and move it away, but it would always come back with the wind and we would try swimming and clearing it again.
After two or three hours of soaking in the puzhia and swimming, we would reach a stage where lifting a finger would become near to impossible. At times such as these, Amma, Leela Chithi or Athais would pesangi Sambhar Chadam, thayir chadam in the big aluminium kundan and we would sit around them in a semi-circle and gobble down the food. And it would taste incredible!
We had some good friends as well - like the four-legged drawer insect which moves around on the water creating lovely straight lines. And the water-snake which used to be a frequent visitor and we were convinced it was a male, because it came out only when the females went to Puzhai especially in Anthathu Maam's house. And the lovely blue king-fisher. And also the fishes! The fishes in the puzhai would bite our feet and it gets quite tingly. Sometimes they do get nasty and give a big painful bite. They are supposed to eat away all our dead cells and keep our feet clean. So we would wait, not moving and the fishes would come, but if we made a small movement, they would go away. It did require a bit of a self-control to keep still.
The Puzhai was the place to socialize as well. In addition to our family, Ramanadan Mama's family would sometimes come, Anthathu Manni's would come etc and we all shared stories and news.
Sometime a lovely long boat would come from the Paalam and go down-stream. And how can we forget the 'VAYA NOKIS'or MLAs - of whom we were perpetually scared of and we would implore Chithi, Mani, Athais to shoo them away.
The water in the Puzhai is so incredible, we all would start to glow and our complexions really improved just after a couple of days in Trikkur.
We were not allowed to go near the Puzhai during noon and after twilight. But the rest of the times, we were mostly there - chatting, singing, eating.
When we go to the Trikkur house, the Puzhai is the first palce we go to, we at least wash our legs and enjoy and soak the view. And for me it is one of the most peaceful places on earth and continues to be along with the view from the periya kovil kunnu.
The Puzhai was one of main attractions and center-points of our lives at Trikkur and continues to be so even today. Like the puzhai, our memories continue to meander by the Trikkur house and slowly each of us continue to find out own different paths.