Pottukadalai Vs Duties
My grandfather was a member of the Purugespettai Murugan temple's committee. (This Murugan temple is an absolute beauty and my mother's family adores the Murugan)
Anyway, the family had one duty every evening - open the temple's store room. This room has all sorts of riches - A monthly supply of oil, camphor, incense sticks, wick and no one else is allowed to hold the keys but my mother's family.
Every day, someone from the family takes the keys, opens the store room, gives the gurukkal the oil and other supplies and wait for the poojai to get over. My mother and her youngest older sister - Mangai (periamma) are usually the enthusiasts and hence until the poojai is over. They fulfil their temple duties and one of them drops the word - 'Po.ka' and that's their cue to start their ritual - head straight to the window sill and eat pottukadalai. They stuff their skirt pockets with pottukadalai bought from the shop with their pocket money. Like, that's all they do. They wait, munching on pottukadalai until the gurukkal decides to call it a day, everyday!
Po.ka is what the mom, periamma duo call the pottukadalais and that's their cue to kickstart their evening. Whenever she recites this story, she stops to tell what Po.Ka means and I listen to it like she cracked the code for me the very first time. It's an exclusive family secret, you see.
Po.ka is what the mom, periamma duo call the pottukadalais and that's their cue to kickstart their evening. Whenever she recites this story, she stops to tell what Po.Ka means and I listen to it like she cracked the code for me the very first time. It's an exclusive family secret, you see.
I sometimes think of this as my retirement plan. I'd be happy to do it all my life. I just need the store room keys and some pottukadalai. You in?
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