Veranda Tales-Where did the candy go?

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.

అందరూ శ్రీవైష్ణవులే- బుట్టెడు రొయ్యలు మాయమయ్యాయి (andaru srivaishnavule - buttedu royyalu mayamayyayi)

I grew up in the coastal region of Andhra Pradesh living close to the coast, enduring cyclones and tropical storms. The coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh region is home to several rivers, including the Godavari, the Krishna, their deltas, their brackish streams as they both merge into the Bay of Bengal, and numerous freshwater lakes, ponds, and streams. It is a tropical paradise and its fertile deltas enable growing rice and two other crops each year. Many farmers rotate crops to renew the soil with nutrients the previous crop depleted. In one of the villages I lived in for a couple of years, farmers grew rice, turmeric and legumes back to back. Rice came home around January close to Sankranti time. When we lived there అమ్మ (Amma is mother in Telugu) started buying turmeric root grown in the village and hired women from the village to grind it. The women brought their own రోకలి (rokali) and used our రుబ్బురోలు (rubbu rolu) to grind turmeric root.

రుబ్బురోలు (rubbu rolu) is a large grinding stone with a round hole in the middle. Another rounded stone with a wooden handle fits right into the hole in the large grinding stone. Stuff to grind goes into the hole and a rotating motion with the rounded stone using its wooden handle gets the job of grinding done. When grinding dry things such as peppers, rice, or Turmeric root, a రోకలి (rokali) is used instead of the rounded stone with the handle. రోకలి (rokali) is a long wooden stick with a metal plate at the bottom and is used to pound grain placed in the hole in the రుబ్బురోలు (rubbu rolu). రోకలి (rokali) is called a rice pounder in English.

Three women would stand around a రుబ్బురోలు (rubbu rolu) taking turns dropping their రోకలి (rokali) into the small hole in the middle of the రుబ్బురోలు (rubbu rolu) striking peppers, grains, rice, or turmeric root to grind them into a fine powder. It is mesmerizing to watch them work in synchrony with perfectly timed strikes without clashing. In Telugu, this method of grinding is called దంపటం (dampatam is pounding in Telugu) and దంపుడు బియ్యం (dampudu biyyam) means stone ground rice.

Turmeric root is called పసుపు కొమ్ము (pasupu kommu) in Telugu and పసుపు (pasupu) is ground Turmeric. పసుపు (pasupu) is an essential ingredient in Andhra Pradesh cuisine. It is used for పూజ (pooja). Women apply turmeric paste on their faces for a lovely complexion and skin. When I was growing up in villages, it was common to run into women who were in the middle of their beauty routine with పసుపు (pasupu) all over their faces waiting for it do its magic before they washed it out.

The best part of growing up close to the coast besides going to the pristine beaches, was the amazing variety of seafood to enjoy. I grew up eating fresh రొయ్యలు (royyalu are prawns), బొమ్మిడాయలు (Bommidayalu), వాలాగ (vaalaga), చందువాయ (chanduvaya), సొర (sora), several others. అమ్మ (Amma) would buy two to three kilograms of రొయ్యలు (royyalu) when she found them for a good price. She would then spend hours peeling, and deveining them. She would then divide them into smaller portions for cooking right away and for preserving for later. Preserving them took more work than opening the refrigerator and placing the container of prawns in the meat bin. She had to cook them with turmeric and some salt. Then she would put them in our green meat safe which went with us from house to place and town to town.

అమ్మ (Amma) made రొయ్యల ఇగురు (royyala eguru) with generous amount of diced onion, fresh green chilli peppers, garlic, and ginger the first day. ఇగురు (eguru) is cooking technique which involves boiling until the moisture has evaporated. ఇగురు (eguru) dishes are made out of vegetables, fish, prawns, chicken, or goat meat. రొయ్యల పులుసు (royyala pulusu) followed the day after.  పులుసు (pulusu) means tamarind sauce. పులుసు (pulusu) dishes are made out of vegetables, fish, and prawns. You would never find chicken or goat meat పులుసు (pulusu). She would make delicious scrambled eggs with  రొయ్యలు (royyalu).

She went to the fish market either with నాన్న (Nanna is father Telugu) or by herself. I once went with her on a fish shopping expedition. The fish markets in Andhra Pradesh are large outdoor markets with several vendors selling whatever they are able to catch that day. Each vendor might have one or more varieties of fish, prawn, or crabs. I went with her somewhat grudgingly and came back with total respect for her ability to navigate the market to find what she wanted without letting the aggressive fish vendors derail her plans into getting her to buy from them. They would resort to tossing a fish in her basket so she was forced to walk to their stall to give the fish back. She would bargain with them and select the freshest fish and prawns. It was like entering పద్మవ్యూహం (padmavyuhum) or and coming back out unscathed. She was terrific at it. పద్మవ్యూహం (padmavyuhum) also known as చక్రవ్యూహ (Chakravyuha) is a lotus shaped battle formation which is multi-tiered. It takes special skill to enter the పద్మవ్యూహం (padmavyuhum)  and then retreat to safety without being captured.

అందరూ శ్రీవైష్ణవులు- బుట్టెడు రొయ్యలు మాయమయ్యాయి (andaru srivaishnavule - buttedu royyalu mayamayyayi) sameta has nothing to do with fish markets and battle formations. Hearing this sameta reminds me of అమ్మ (Amma), her  రొయ్యల ఇగురు (royyala eguru), and her skillful fish shopping. This sameta means, “Everybody is Srivaishnava - then how did a basket full of prawns disappear?”. శ్రీవైష్ణవులు (Srivaishnavulu) are devotees of the Hindu deity Vishnu, who are required to follow a strict vegetarian diet. This sameta is used when a group of people start pointing fingers at each other looking to avoid responsibility for something that went wrong. When a basket full of leftover candy from Halloween disappears, my life partner wonders  aloud, “What happened to all the candy?”. My younger one and I stay very quiet. This year I don’t have the luxury as I am the only one sitting next to the basket full of leftover Halloween candy stash. This sameta reminds us the importance of taking responsibility even when it could be blamed on others.