Kurrodu

The above picture of a joint family peeling jackfruit kindles fond memories of my village. I was one of the few fortunate ones to have a taste of both rural and urban life. Though I grew up in the city at my pedhanayana’s (elder brother of my dad) place, I frequently visited my mom and dad in the village who had to take care of the lands. We were a semi-joint family. Though the families were physically apart, I always had a feeling of being in a one big family. I always called my pedhamma (pedhanayana’s wife) as mummy as she was the one who raised me, since I was three. I called my pedhanayana as daddy. However, when both of my parents (moms , dads in village and city) get together, I used to call them by their names with a mummy, daddy suffix to avoid confusion. (isn't it funny?)

Well, let me get back to the picture. I spent all my vacation, be it short or long in the village. I had many cousins to play with in the village. We roamed together in the fields. We also used to help women at home ( my mom , other neighbours) in their farm related activities. Few of our group activities were: sorting grams, peppers, tomatoes from the farms; getting rid of seeds and shell from tamarind; cracking open ground nuts… It was always fun doing this and i recollect them when i look at this picture.

My village was just 40 miles away from the city. I and my cousins all grew up together in the city. I was raised along with my brother, my dad’s younger brother’s son and pedhanayana’s daughters in the city. I was the youngest one in the whole family. I was affectionately called “Kurrodu”, (which means the little one) by my grandmom (pedhamma’s mother). I was always raised with lot of attention partly due to my poor health. I should say that all of us were taken great care by my pedhamma. She bore the burden of raising 3 guys and 2 big girls in the city. While her daughters were in college, she was teaching me how to write. She had great energy and used to toil the whole day in taking great care of us.
Well, my mom in the village spent most of her day in the kitchen. Apart from making food for the members in the family, she also had to prepare lunch for those working in the fields, .. . She however had maids to help her in cooking and maintaining the house..In this way, these two mothers of mine complimented each other to make our joint family a successful one. I owe a lot to them.

I also owe big time to my brothers and sisters. An advantage of being the youngest one in a big family is that you always have some one to show you the way. I realize that most of the important decisions that I have made are influenced by those that my elder brothers and sisters had made for themselves. In this way, you always have a chance to avoid their mistakes. "There is a great advantage of being the Kurrodu of a big family."

Photograph of Joint family - Courtesy: From Kamat's potpurri at www.kamat.com