Veranda Tales-A day in a monkey’s life

Storytelling has been an integral part of my life since childhood. I grew up listening to stories during the hot summer evenings and nights with my cousins. Mothers and grandmothers would gather all of us children for story time. It was usually pitch dark except for a very faint light coming from the flickering candle. Power cuts were as frequent as the hot and humid summer days. We all spread out on a cool concrete floor or bamboo mats on the veranda intently listening to fascinating stories about kings, queens, princes, princesses, and peasants alike. Stories about love, life, families, and people entertained and taught us life skills. These stories transported us to distant worlds, strange yet familiar. Often the same story told by two people sounded different as storytellers added new twists and turns adding their personal style and flair to the stories.

Storytelling wasn’t limited to summer evenings and bedtime. I was surrounded by adults who didn’t pass up an opportunity to share their wisdom using the art of storytelling. These rich vibrant oral traditions include songs, poems, stories, and సామెతలు (Sametalu are proverbs in Telugu). Men and women sing songs as they work in the fields, grinding grains and spices and doing other daily chores at their homes. Stories are often used to teach important life lessons, interpersonal skills, and survival skills. These stories and the time spent listening to them made our lives richer leaving an impression on me. This series is all about reliving those memories as I share these stories.

కత్తి పోయి ఢోలు వచ్చే ఢాం ఢాం ఢాం (Katthi poyi dholu vacche daam daam daam)

Once upon a time, there lived a కోతి (kothi is monkey in Telugu) in a అరణ్యం (aranyam is forest in Telugu) close to a village. Our monkey was young and very mischievous. He was constantly getting into trouble with his elders. He would jump from branch to branch, tree to tree all day long, foraging and eating ripe fruits and delicious nuts. One day కోతి (kothi) came down to pick ripe fruits that fell under the tree. He fell into a thorny bush and a sharp ముల్లు (mullu is thorn in Telugu) embedded in his తోక (thoka is tail in Telugu). He was in pain and tried to get the thorn out for a while with no luck. He then remembered a మంగలి (mangali is barber in Telugu) who lived in the village nearby who might be able to help him. He hobbled along in pain to the village. Luckily for కోతి (kothi), it wasn’t a మంగళవారం (mangalavaram is Tuesday in Telugu) and he found మంగలి (mangali) in his shop. మంగళవారం (mangalavaram) is an auspicious day and Hindus don’t cut or trim their hair and nails as it is considered అశుభం (asubham is inauspicious in Telugu). Barber shops are closed on Tuesdays in India for this reason. It is possible this tradition started to give hardworking barbers a day off.

I remember మంగలి (mangali) coming to my తాతయ్య (tatayya is grandfather in Telugu)’s house to give him haircut and a shave. He would carry a wooden stool and tools with him. He would have his customers sit on his wooden stool as he shaved and cut their hair. తాతయ్య (tatayya) would sit on the stool to get his beard shaved and get a haircut. It was fascinating to watch మంగలి (mangali)  apply soap with a brush to తాతయ్య (tatayya)’s face and the white lather disappear as the knife took away the hair with the lather. It was equally amusing to watch తాతయ్య (tatayya) get a haircut as he didn’t have much hair to begin with.

So it wasn’t a Tuesday and our కోతి (kothi) was in luck. He asked the మంగలి (mangali) to remove the ముల్లు (mullu) from his తోక (thoka). మంగలి (mangali) removed it gently without causing any additional pain. The curious కోతి (kothi) was intently looking at మంగలి (mangali)’s tool bag full of tools. There were scissors, knives and combs of all shapes and sizes. కోతి (kothi) was fascinated by all these strange tools. Once the ముల్లు (mullu) was removed, he took a knife from the tool bag and took off running while singing,

Poor మంగలి (mangali) ran after the కోతి (kothi) shouting at him, but కోతి (kothi) was too fast for him as he took off sticking his tongue out at the మంగలి (mangali).

Our కోతి (kothi) spotted a man breaking the కొబ్బరి మట్టలు  (kobbari mattalu) with his bare hands. కొబ్బరి మట్టలు (kobbari mattalu) are coconut leaves. Coconut trees have compound leaves and they can be up to 18 feet long and a foot wide. They are as good as a branch with very tough stems. Our కోతి (kothi) took pity on the man and handed him the knife. The man took the knife happily and got busy using the knife to cut the leaves. కోతి (kothi) ran away with a కొబ్బరి మట్ట (kobbari matta) singing,

Along the way, he spotted a man drying బెల్లం అచ్చులు (bellam achulu are jaggery pieces in Telugu). బెల్లం (bellam) is made by boiling చెరుకు రసం (cheruku rasam is sugarcane juice in Telugu) and the thickened juice is spread on coconut leaves or bamboo mats for drying in the Sun. Our mischievous yet kind కోతి (kothi) gave the కొబ్బరి మట్ట (kobbari matta) to the man and took off running with a handful of బెల్లం అచ్చులు (bellam achulu). The man cried and shouted helplessly calling the monkey, దొంగ కోతి (donga kothi), దొంగ కోతి (donga kothi) come back. దొంగ కోతి (donga kothi) means thieving monkey. Our కోతి (kothi) left the man in the dust singing,

As he was walking along eating బెల్లం (bellam), he saw a poor old woman making పూర్ణం బూరెలు (purnam boorelu) without బెల్లం (bellam) as she couldn’t afford to buy it. పూర్ణం బూరెలు (purnam boorelu) are dumplings made out of thick శనగపప్పు (sanagapappu is bengal gram in Telugu)  paste with chopped nuts, grated coconut, and jaggery and dipped in మినపప్పు (minapapu is black gram in Telugu) batter before deep frying them to golden perfection. They are delicious. Mischievous yet kind కోతి (kothi) took pity on the poor old woman and gave her బెల్లం (bellam). The old woman started making పూర్ణం బూరెలు (purnam boorelu) with బెల్లం (bellam). Once a basket full of them were ready, our కోతి (kothi) snatched the basket and ran away singing,

The poor woman was angry and shouted at the కోతి (kothi) as he ran away. కోతి (kothi) was walking along enjoying పూర్ణం బూరెలు (purnam boorelu) when he saw two cow herders singing, “గోవుల్లు తెల్లన, గోపయ్య నల్లన, గోధూళి ఎఱ్ఱన, ఎందువలన (Why are the cows white, Gopayya is black, and cow dust is red)”, as they walked with their cows and calves. కోతి (kothi) gave them పూర్ణం బూరెలు (purnam boorelu) and escaped with a cow. The cow herders were very angry and chased after him. He outran them with the cow disappearing into the forest as he sang,

He was very tired with his escapades. He ordered the cow to boil water to take a bath. The cow was very angry that the కోతి (kothi) separated her from her calf and the only thing she wanted to do was to go home. She wanted to teach కోతి (kothi) a lesson. She boiled water and dumped scalding hot water on the కోతి (kothi) and went back home leaving the కోతి (kothi) screaming in pain.

I don’t like this ending that harms our mischievous yet kind కోతి (kothi). Here is an alternate ending which is a kinder one. The cow herders were very angry and chased after కోతి (kothi) and caught up with him. They made a deal to exchange their small ఢోలు (dholu is a drum in Telugu) for the cow. To cow’s and cow herders’ relief, కోతి (kothi) happily agreed and ran away playing the drums and singing,