Moving day

It has been a tough few days. If you read my previous post, you can probably feel my pain a little bit. My beloved Sarala Athai, after feeding so many people with her wonderful cooking, passed on to a better, pain free place, after herself not eating at all for 2 months. When I think of that singular fact, it makes me want to just keep crying... I know life is full of ironies but this is just the worst of all. Obviously I am bereft with sorrow and ridden with pain. As I was pondering on what I can be doing, cooking and writing has always been therapeutic to me and I decided to continue where I left off on this blog.

Moving on to more memories of Avadi, we left G 63/5 soon after Athai was married and moved to G 40/4. This new block was only a couple of blocks away (each block in the G type in HVF Estate had 8 units or quarters, the ground floor was numbered 1-4 and the first floor was numbered 5-8). For years my parents, more so my Appa and my Chellama patti wanted to move to a "ground floor" quarters so they can cultivate their own garden. So when this became available, off we went.

By this time Balu Chithappa had completed his studies, done a stint at Larson and Toubro at Kuderemukh, Karnataka. Soon he left that job and got an opportunity to go to North Yemen. First person in our family to go "abroad" :-) And he is still trying to find that ideal job for him. Balu Chithappa was always bright, super smart, super handsome. But I think he is pre-destined to be his own boss. He does not take well to bureaucracy or a hippocratic culture. So when he faces it in the corporate world, off he goes on to his next adventure. I have always been a big fan of Balu Chithappa's adventerous spirit and die-hard enthusiasm. There was never a dull moment when he was around.

Murthy Chithappa, a really hard working person, had also completed his studies at the Govt School at SAP (TSP, Satyamurthy Nagar now) and got some jobs honing his skills and eventually joined H V F where Appa was also working. Very hardworking, conscientious, always puts his family first and Yes, that certainly includes Vijay and me. He is also very pragmatic, we always go to Chithappa if we want to know how to do things or get things done inside and outside of the house, fun loving and fun sharing(oh, the trips he takes and used to take me with him, they are worth a seperate post) and focused on building a strong future for him and his own.I am also a big fan of Murthy Chithappa. Murthy Chithappa has always been part of my childhood, before marriage and then later joined by Shanthi Chithi and then Vimal and Sriram. He is still a very integral part of my life. After Appa, he tells everybody he is my Appa. How sweet is that!!!

Amma was also settling down at her school. She sure missed Sarala Athai, but she was busy working at the school and then later helping Paatti around the house.

So on moving day our family and all our wordly belongings move on a bullock cart to G40/4 :-) That includes Appa, Amma, Thatha, Paatti, Murthy Chithappa, myself, Vijay and Govindamma (our newly acquired maid since Paatti was getting older, I think she must have been 60 or so when I was born). Govindamma is what legends are made of - in both positive and otherwise ways :-) Maybe there will more in a later post about her. She was around 45 I think, but called everybody in our house Anna. And my mom was Akka. And Patti was Amma. She later became Paati's confidant and best friend...

Whenever I am going through a bad phase or in a bad mood, I still have dreams about G40/4. I think that is where my sub-conscious takes me for security. Those were the happiest days of my life. Even in my dreams I can feel the green distember painted walls of that house surround me in peace and tranquility like a mother's womb. It is and will always be my security blanket.