Salem was my ' paatti veedu ' (granny's place). I still remember the blue inland letter from my grandmother Chandra Bai inviting us to Salem for our summer vacation. We used to spend a few days in Ooty before moving over to Salem. Mummy (Aravindakumari) used to pack a big black suitcase and two smaller suitcases with our clothes in order to last the annual leave. Daddy (Govindarajulu) used to take us by car and it would take us a good three hours to reach Muhammed Pura Street in Salem. I still remember seeing the ladies from the neighbourhood wrapping a white chaddar around themselves while on the move. We would cross Avinashi, Perundurai, Bhavani and Sankugiri and reach Salem. The new Bhavani bridge was yet to happen. Shankar Café with its marble topped tables used to be our tiffin stop. A visit to mummy's aunt Amirthavalli Thayar and family would take place once in a way. Her husband Arunachalam had been a Mirasdar. My uncle Seetharama Guptha used to accompany us once in a while in order to catch up with his sister Perundevi Surendran who lived at Thammampatti on the outskirts of Salem. Sago has been the contribution of Salem to the country and the region is a leader.
Salem was my ' paatti veedu ' (granny's place). I still remember the blue inland letter from my grandmother Chandra Bai inviting us to Salem for our summer vacation. We used to spend a few days in Ooty before moving over to Salem. Mummy (Aravindakumari) used to pack a big black suitcase and two smaller suitcases with our clothes in order to last the annual leave. Daddy (Govindarajulu) used to take us by car and it would take us a good three hours to reach Muhammed Pura Street in Salem. I still remember seeing the ladies from the neighbourhood wrapping a white chaddar around themselves while on the move. We would cross Avinashi, Perundurai, Bhavani and Sankugiri and reach Salem. The new Bhavani bridge was yet to happen. Shankar Café with its marble topped tables used to be our tiffin stop. A visit to mummy's aunt Amirthavalli Thayar and family would take place once in a way. Her husband Arunachalam had been a Mirasdar. My uncle Seetharama Guptha used to accompany us once in a while in order to catch up with his sister Perundevi Surendran who lived at Thammampatti on the outskirts of Salem. Sago has been the contribution of Salem to the country and the region is a leader.
My father's mother Lalitha Bai was also from Salem and she used to accompany us once in a way with my youngest uncle Shankar. I still wonder how so many of us fit into the Ambassador car. She used to always want to start early in the morning in order to spend more time with her people. Her father the scholarly S.N.Padmanabha Chetty was the founder of Gopala Padma Vilas (Estd - 1916) and had been an extremely successful textile merchant. He used to source textiles from places like Karachi and Kasi and offer them to his clients in Salem. The firm had been named after the two partners Jayagopal and Padmanabhan. It was named in a style that was meant to inculcate fair play. The second half of one partner's name was placed in the front while the first half of the name of the other partner was placed at the rear. This is the story of the name. There was a turn even for the Friday pooja prasadam. S.N.Padmanabha Chetty was known for his values and ethics. The understanding between the partners was really great and the standard operating procedure was perhaps the best. Great grand father lost a bit of his mobility in his old age. However my uncle R. Srinivasan used to accompany him to places like the Theosophical Society everyday. He was a deeply spiritual person and had several admirable qualities.
We would reach Salem, freshen ourselves up and begin our visits to the houses of our relatives. The first stop used to be our aunt Suguna. She lived with her husband Gopalakrishnan and daughters Kalpana and Jana. It would be snacks galore and we would then move over to my father's aunt Subadhra. She was married into the well known Odayapatti family. Subadhra Ranganathan was an avid reader. She would request my father to go through the magazine clippings collected by her at leisure. The third stop used to be at the residence of my father's grandparents, Gopala Padma Vilas. It had the shop at the front and the residence in the rear. The house was the cleanest town house that I can ever remember. We would be served tasty cold rose milk got from M.S.K. Soda Factory and snacks by my great grand mother Parvathavardhini Thayar. Her bachelor brother Ramanathan who was called ' Karur ' by my great grand father used to stay with her in the night during her later days. She used to give me the books belonging to my great grand father S.N.Padmanabha Chetty (1893 - 1973). I later discovered that one book from collection ' Sethu and Rameswaran ' was quite rare and Dr.Nandita Krishna of the CPR Foundation took the book from me and got it reprinted. My great grand mother used to often invite us over for lunch and one Padmavathi Akka used to cook the special meals. Father's uncle S.P.Ramanathan was an avid reader of English fiction and he was an active member of a few clubs in Salem. His wife Lakshmi Bai was from Bhavani and she made tasty godhumai (wheat) laddoos. The house had a rare shelf styled pooja place with ceramic tiles that had Gods on them. The buyers ANS Kumbakonam Jewellers retained the same.
Father used to take my maternal uncle Srinath and aunts Jaisree, Prabulla and Mythily for a night show and leave for Coimbatore the next morning. The breakfast sambar used to be from Vilvadri Bhavan. He used to be treated like a Prince those days. My other aunt Vijayalakshmi and her kids (Anusha & Shiva) used to visit us in Salem and go over to Namakkal thereafter. In fact they did a ' jadai alangaram ' for Anusha during one of the summers in Salem. A nice photo was taken in one of the studios.
Summer in Salem would begin at home. We used to stay at home most of the times. It was like a ' lock down ' An occasional movie would be our outing or a visit to the cycle shop ' City Cycle Mart ' belonging to grandfather K.C.Sampath Kumar. He had built the Kalpana Theatre and their family ' Kota Family ' was known to be an important family in Salem. We stayed at Mohammed Pura Street and our house had a big namam painted on the entrance. Great grand mother Swarnambal was from Edapadi and she was an ardent Vaishnavaite. She would be found reading the Naalayira Divya Prabandham all the time. We used to enjoy her stories and her ' chaethi kadilu '. She used to mix hot food in a steel basin and serve us. We would sit around and stretch our inner palms in order to receive the food and eat. Mangoes, onions, curds, vadagam, butter and naravallikkai pickle used to be eaten with the tasty chaaru annam (rasam saadham). Granny's chaaru mirppodi had been exclusive and I am yet to taste anything better. One Chinnamma used to sell us mangoes and one old lady would supply us with butter and ghee. Nagamma was the household help and she used to give me and my brother a solid oil bath on Saturdays. It was followed by some sambrani for the head and then one spicy tonic called Omadraavam. A big rose wood swing would keep us happy during the day. Of course the Salem snacks were great. They helped us to put on weight during summer.
Grandfather K.C.Sampath Kumar was an avid reader and would not like to be disturbed while listening to the radio news twice a day. He read The Hindu and Readers Digest from one cover to the other. Unfortunately he had suffered from a paralytic attack in his forties and therefore could not use his right hand effectively. He would still go out on his own with a bag and umbrella. His father K.L.Chinnikrishna Chetty had been the owner of an exclusive alcohol store (K.L.Chinnikrishna Chetty & Sons) prior to independence. The stationary was printed in England. We had several leftovers from the yonder era. A White Horse Whisky compliment, Tuborg Beer Mug (mind you, the design has not changed still), Johnnie Walker on a pedestal which says it was begun in 1820 and was still going strong. Words like ' By Appointment to His Majesty the King ' etc., would be there on these collectibles which are scattered now. They were known as the ' Brandy Shop Family '.
We used to go by kudirai vandis (horse drawn carts) to movies. Salem had a ther mutti and these horse drawn carts were found there in abundance. I remember going to Vani Rani and enjoying the tom boyish acting of Vanisree. Oriental, Palace, New Cinema, Shanthi were some of the theatres. Uncle Srinath used to regale us with stories and comedy scenes from old Tamil movies. Kalayana Parisu comedy by Thangavelu was top on the list. He used to take us to Prabhat Theatre to watch these old movies with his friends. Grandmother used to cook well and she had picked it up from one Pudupatti Avva who had moved along with her from Namakkal after her marriage in 1947. The lady had lost her husband early and stayed with granny. A lot of hard work has helped her and granny does a bit of household stuff even now.We would also visit the Jamakkalam family in Kanakkar Street. They were our relatives and one of the brothers Venkatesan ran a bhatter making business. Another one Jayakumar, initiated the production of a movie with two of my uncle's friends. I remember the movie pooja in my granny's house and it was called ' Kasappum Inippum '. My grandfather K. C . Sampath Kumar used to tell us about Modern Theatres. We also learnt that Narsus Coffee was from Salem .
My grandparents home was unique. It did not have a well motor or heater. No grinder or mixer or an over head tank. We used to bathe with the water from a container which was fired with wood (it was in the bath area itself) . A person was employed to draw water from the well. Drinking water had to be pumped and everyone would help out in this regard. The dosa bhatter was made by one Lakshmi Akka every evening. Native medicine would be from tailor Padmavathi Akka who lived in ' Padhi Kaapuram ' (ten residential units - in Telugu), a housing complex nearby .
The household ate rice twice a day and the tiffin was just once in the morning. Pitla (a spicy tomato based add on), Miriam (spicy red chilly stuff) etc., were our favourties for breakfast and the Thakkali Pandu Annam (Tomato Rice) was always divine. Granny used to make one poori peni for taking it to Coimbatore. Well, the thirukanna amudhu was one lovely payasam with kova locked in tiny maida packets deep fried in ghee before dropping it in thick badam kheer. Mommy used to give away our out of size clothes and get vessels from the stainless steel utensil vendor who used to come home. Ah, now I remember the old styled Indian toilet in this house and it had a bucket at the bottom and the waste was removed through a door by a sanitary worker once a day. Thankfully, such things have disappeared. He would access the toilet from a lane at the rear.
The groceries were from AKB Shop. Henry & Wolsey was the famous cake shop those days and there used to be a nice super market called ' Chamundi '.
Our elders told us about the scholar Sengalipuram Anantharama Dikshithar and also about Salem Vijayaraghavachariar. We learnt that Rajaji was the Chairman of the Salem Municipality and that he brought in Dalits into the forefront during his tenure. One Chinnikrishna Chetty had been very popular and the famous Veena Vidwan Ranganatha Bhagavathar had moved over to Salem in order to teach his daughters music.
My father's maternal grand father S.N.Padmanabha Chetty had known them well.
A visit to the Rajaganapathy Temple was mandatory and I remember going to Skandashramam, Sugavaneswarar Temple, Kannika Parameswari Temple and the Kottai Perumal Temple who happens to be mummy's family deity. Well, holidays meant some issues and illnesses. We were taken to Dr.Balachander for cold, cough and indigestion. Once a scorpion had stung me on a dark evening when it was raining. My granny tried to put one ' thel kadi paadam ' to remove the effect. I would have none of it and therefore we went to the hospital for treatment. Great grand father K.L.Chinnikrishna Chetty was known for treating people who had been stung by scorpions during his times. One fat lady used to make one murukku called ' Rail Kattadam ' and it was simply fantastic. Many people wanted to learn from her but she would never share her secret . No one has been able to match her. The Salem beeda podi was excellent and we would pick it up while returning home to Coimbatore.
Our stay in Salem would be usually interspersed with a visit to Namakkal, the home of my mother's maternal grandparents. The theevu (sweet) sevai (like broken murukkus) used to be excellent. My mother's maternal uncles Ramachandran (Srinivasa Corporation) and Jayagopal used to take us to touring talkies and we would watch movies over there. A visit to the Hanuman and Narasimha Temple was part of the visit. Great grandfather Kolar Abbay Chettiar (N.V.Venkataswamy) was a popular textile merchant and my great grand mother Namagiri Thayar was a hard working home maker. My mother's aunts Shantha and Padmalochana used to supervise the making of ice cream for the kids. Sweetened milk used to be placed in a container and ice was placed around. The shop boys would spin it around and eventually we would get ice cream which was superb. Great grand uncle Gopal had devoted his life towards the well being of his elder brother's family. He was an affectionate man. We would return to Salem by bus.
I spent most of my time reading story books belonging to my grand father Sampath Kumar. The book ' Sivakamiyin Sabadham ' by Kalki was my favourite and I wanted to make a movie based on that novel. Reading ‘ Ponnuyin Selvan ‘ , ‘ Chanakyarum Chandraguptanum and ‘ Parthipan Kanavu ‘ built a dream of India in my mind. I still remember reading about the independence of Zimbabwe (1980) while I was enjoying my summer holidays in Salem. All my mama's friends became very close to us. Ranga mama, Narendran mama, Seena who ran a rice business,one Karunanidhi who took us to a coffee estate in Yercaud and Auditor Ramakrishnan. One Lakshmi aunty used to stay in granny's house for years. Mother's cousins from Bhavani and Attur used to visit the home and spend time with all of us. Most of them came unannounced and were always welcome. They slept on the floor with just a mat and had no great expectations. That was the kind of life those days. In fact all of us slept in an open hall with a chimney on and only a few of us used beds to sleep. We played pallanguli, paramapadham, dhaayam, adu puli attam with everyone. My brother Suresh and myself picked up the song ' Surangani ' from my aunts. Daddy used to write letters to mummy in order to keep her informed about himself and to also let us know that we had passed the annual exam. Fortunately the absence of ranking made life easier for me.
We came to know that Kumbakonam Jewellers whose jewellery stamp was popular, Gokul Jewellery Mart, Salem Stores and Coimbatore Jewellery Mart were the famous jewellery shops while Rama Vilas, Elli Chetty Cloth Shop, Sri Rajeswari Hall and Vijaya Silk House were known for textiles. Salem had been an old centre and people were highly cultured. A number of the merchants had their accounts done in Telugu. All our relatives used to appreciate our sing song accent which was exclusive to Coimbatore. The car was called ' Pleasure ' by the people for Salem. Diwan Beedi, Love O (a soft drink) were from Salem. My aunts used to cut thin bands out of the cycle tubes and used them as rubber bands. Well, it was a women's majority household and it used to be full of laughter at all times. There was a lot of give and take. The getting ready with snow, powder and channdhu used to be a ritual to watch. The pattu pattu pattu of the puff with powder on the face after applying coconut oil for the hair was fun to watch. Each one used to help the other to braid . The paavadai and dhaavani (half saree) was the dress code for my younger aunts. The leghiyam for young mothers used to be well preserved by granny round the year. Granny stored a lot of stuff in Amulspray (Milk Powder) tins. I was told that these tins had been emptied by my brother Suresh and myself.
My brother and myself would lose all the tan acquired while playing under the sun at school and come back fairer. Now, I remember that drishti (bad eye) was removed with the burning sticks of a particular broom and these sticks were known as ' Kamakshi Pulla '. Coimbatore granny used to tell my mother to bring these sticks for our household back home. The Annual Holidays in Salem went on till we completed our schooling and it used to last close to a month. It was a time of rest for mummy and it helped her to connect with her family once a year. Daddy would come back, pick us up and we would be back to visiting our relatives before coming back to Coimbatore. I still remember the slightly moist eyes of my grandfather at the time of our departure to Coimbatore. We thoroughly enjoyed out trips to Salem. Amenities and facilities backed by an evolving culture has changed a lot of things these days. Life was perhaps tougher physically then but there was a lot of love and affection amongst people. Culture and tradition had given a good foundation. The power of discrimination could be developed in a mature manner. This helped the society to be helpful and ethical.
Our Annual holidays were kind of a ' lock out ' for we could not go out much. However the company of our near and dear never made us feel it and on the contrary made life enjoyable.