Happy Vishu

today is vishu. and my memories lead me to a time when i was a child of seven in alathur. i lived there with a grand uncle, keshavmama, a grand aunt,mema, an aunt, ammuvalliamma and a hand full of helphands. oh yes, i cannot forget swaminathan, the teenaged houseworker whose favorite errand was to take me to see a malayalam movie every sunday. and that included some real raunchy ones, starring someone who everybody called-"todashree!" which translates into something like-"the thunder thighs"!!!
nandan chettan arrived from trikakkara the previous day and we went and bought fireworks and crackers. he was at that time probably fourteen or fifteen years old. for a lonely child living away from his parents, this meant a lot.
and every vishu, since then, after i have my "vishukanni" my mind always reverts back to that year. its as if i am caught in a time wrap. its possibily the only vishu i celebrated with great happiness in memory.
today, just as we were having breakfast, nandanchettan called from delhi. and we wished each other "happy vishus". thanks nandanchetta.