4.Suicide of a village chameleon

(Continued from previous post..)
Kuttiohamed is Mridul's close neighbour. He is the member of a large farmer family. But his father and two uncles are narialwallahs in mumbai city. Kuttymohamed's dream is to make it big in Mumbai like his uncles. His grand dad is called Kappal because he could carry a "ship-load" on his shoulder when there were no bullock carts could navigate in the rough terrain of the village woven with narrow deep alleys and thin slippery mud banks of paddy field for transportation. Kappal still navigated the village paths with his majestic muscular frame and piercing sharp eyes whereas his sons conquering the gallis around Gate way of India. They supplied tender coconuts to Taj hotel to be sucked by Bollywood stars and western guests. They brought exotic clothes, fragrant soaps and colurful sweets which made Kuttimohamed yearn for his Bombay conquest.

Mridul and other two musketeers are 2 years junior to him. Kuttimohamed is the coach of Mridul in his manhood trainings. He learned to smoke beedi, explore paddy fields and Koll lake with lotus and buffaloes under the guidance of KuttiM. Also, they discussed about who made love with whom and about ejaculation and masturbation. Kuttimohamed was the close associate of the three musketeers, and they had a lot of adventures together. One day Kuttimohamed announced that he is leaving to Mumbai to join his dad and uncles. He did not complete his schooling. The 3 M really missed Kuttimohamed. Once they played a drama written by Mridul  using bed sheet as curtain and the tall Kuttimohamed was the hero. They even tried a show of Kuttimohamed voluntarily allowing himself to be buried alive for a few hours in a pit in earth and come out unscratched to impress the girls. But Kuttimohamed's uncle found out before they could execute it and he thwarted it. Kuttimohamed is leaving. the 3M planned a warm send off with gifts. They decided to buy ice cream and give him in the railway station. They brainstormed of something funny to make Kuttimohamed smile and forget the pang of separation for a while. One morning Kunjumon shot a Chameleon with his bamboo gun. Mridul put a straw around the neck of the chameleon as if it hanged itself. When Kuttimohamed saw it he had to struggle a lot to come normal from his uncontrollable burst of laughter. KuttiM virtually bite dust out of laughter. 3M want Kuttimohamed remember their adventures every time. They planned that they will give him a dead dried chameleon with a straw nook around its neck. Mridul nicely designed a caption" Oru Onthinte thoongi maranam" (Suicide of a Chameleon). They imagined Kuttimoahmed's laughter as he open the packet. In the railway station they gave the ice cream that KuttiM ate heartily . They had given the packet asking him to open it only after his train covered a few stations.

Poor Kuttimohamed had a lot of struggle in Mumbai. eventually he got malaria and came back. Later Kuttiohamed's mother was telling that because the 3M had given such an ugly disastrous gift Kuttimohamed suffered in his life struggle. Kuttimohamed opened the packet when he was hungry thinking his friends had given something to eat and he was so shocked seeing the hanged chameleon that made him sick and spoilt his whole trip. It spoiled his first Mumbai conquest. But KuttiM is not the sort to give up. After certain years he made it and arrived in life, went to middle east drove cars in United Arab emirates, bought lands, settled in his home village running successful small enterprises. The dead chameleon could delay it just a few years only. The 3 M were very sorry about what they did to their dear friend and secretly wished Kuttimohamed pardon theur ignorance. They do not dare to open the topic to Kuttimohamed to say how sorry they are.

3.Three Muskateers

(Continued from previous post...)

The three bamboo musketeers turned back from Koll with the booty of the bunches of red and white lotus flowers with long flowing stems. On the way girls and small kids ran after them begging for flowers. They distributed all before they reach home. They were like warriors distributing their booty. Mrdul's father will get angry if he has seen Mridul's skin coated with a translucent film of fine clay and his pores smelling mud. Haneef'a father left his mother beyond his memory. Kunjumon's father is a farmer and he smells mud. But Mridul's father is a cotton mill worker. He wears white khadi and comb his long wavy hair. His tall frame walking with graceful long strides is a monumental vision of the village of farmers and small time merchants. The village toils in the paddy field and neighbouring town to roll the wheel of life. Some village youth travel to Mumbai and to gulf countries and there is much news about them. Now and then someone comes home and their homes plays transistor radios loudly. Mridul's dad and mum were the most literate in the neighbourhood. His mother writes in blue inland letter of Indian Post to a few husbands in Mumbai.."to read and know my most beloved husband. Here everyone is happy. Hope there is also happiness......

2.Paddy Battle Field

(Continued from previous post..)
Mridul likes climbing trees. Himself, Kunjumon and Haneefa climb on jacktree near the paddy field in the sleepy bright afternoons on holidays and each occupies individual branches and they exchange jokes and stories they collect from their classmates and uncles and aunts. They laugh without much reason and sing. The outer world was castaway beyond the fanning jack leaves and they planned adventures from there. On the day Mridul got gun he wanted to climb the tree and puncture jackleaves with his powerful fruitbullets. But Kunjumon had other plans. He is an avid stone missiler like David. His aim is sharp. Despite his good effort Mridul can not shot down the tempting Ko Mangoes with stones. Kunjumon laughs at Mridul saying that he throws like girl. Mridul throwing style is much like cricket bowling, his hand moving in vertical circle as he shoot stone at bunches of mangoes. But Kunjumon's macho style of throwing stones in horizontal circular pre shooting movements. But Mridul is star among them in somersault and diving in flood waters when they float Banana-stem catamaran during rainy season. Mridul's aquatic skills are matured and displayed in the cool waters of Prof Ithapiri's pond in the opposite bank of paddy field. He floats motionless like a log in Prof Ithapiri's Pond much to the admiration of his friends. But in matters of shooting down mangoes and Kutty and Kol play or glass ball plays where sharp shooting skill is a compulsory requirement, Mridul can not shine. But he is as adventurous as his friends. So they ware a lucrative team in the play ground. Today Kunjumon is going to show them a special fishing method. It is called Vettu. Kunjumon's cousin Aboo is a Vettu expert. Mridul has seen Aboo many times on his way to the lake in the middle of paddy filed called Koll. In Koll most of the seasons maximum depth is more than a fathom. There grows thick bush of lotus. In peak summer Buffaloes feast on lotus on the whole day. Children harvest flowers and root of lotus named Kootnthakaya which is a delicious food when cooked in steam. Small rowing boats of Duck farmers is seen keeping the ranks of hordes of ducks swimming like a march past where lotus leaves are not so thick. Aboo lays his vettu in the koll. Vettu is a little more than one foot long Njankana, which looks similar to sugar cane but floats on water because its airy like thermocol. On it several feet long fish line with hooks with small pallathis as baits are atached. The fish caught the bait pulls the vettu as much as it wants. The fishes have their last voyage in the Koll in full freedom before being cooked with bait in their mouth. Aboos victims are mainly Bral and Kari fishes which are delicacies around there. Kunjumon found out Vett laid by Aboo which are hidden in the thick lotus groves. Kunjumon want to show his friends the Vettu and examine if any fishes are caught. if Aboo knows that they are looking for Vettu he would have been quit a menace. So Kunjumon is doing a secret mission. It is like entering a mine field. Kunjumon and Mridul were waiting for others to arrive. By the time Miridul has emptied many fruit bullets in his Kottothok barrel.

1.The Gunmen Under the flower Tree

Mridul got his first gun that day. It is the Kottaseed-Gun he was long dreaming to possess. It is made of naive bamboo cutting. The 6 inch long Seed-Gun smelled raw bamboo and kottakkaya. Mridul's pocket is bulged with fresh bunches of green pea sized kottakkaya. He got a few of them ripen with deep grape red and having a sweet delicious juice. He was chewing ripen kottakkaya, The fibrous kernel squeezed out sweet juice and invigorated him with fresh energy. He was virtually armed to the teeth with his fruit bullets. He pumped the first bullet in to the barrel of his Kottathok with the bamboo stick. The stick is its trigger as well. The barrel of the bamboo has sufficient diameter to squeeze the kottakkaya. One kottakkaya always remains as a readily loaded bullet at the firing end of the barrel. When another bullet loaded in the other end and the shaped slender bamboo rod with a stopper is suddenly pushed down with bottom of palm with force, the air column between two bullets in the barrel get compressed and the bullet at the firing end is fired with a loud bang as the freshly loaded bullet moved and remains at the firing end. When his friend Kunjumon fires the gun actually smokes and the sound is shattering. He sometimes pushes a couple of well rounded green ripen kottkkas one by one and make a power detonation that shrills the surrounding with a spray of seed bullets. The bullet's size and ripeness is critical for a good firing. Kunjumon made Mridul the gun. They both ran out to the pallam near paddy field. Mridul aimed dragon flies and fired. They went under the great elanji tree showering fragrant flowers. The girls picked as much flowers they can in the morning and each made garlands two foot long each. Subi admired Mridul's gun and gifted him the elanji garland she made. All around the ancient trunk of elanji panal grown in thicket. There are sarpams in it. Mridul never met any sarpam. He fired a few kottakka bullets against the invisible Sarpams. He play playfully fired a few bullets on Subi's pulli-pavada. She thrown him with achinga puli she was holding so precious and relishing in cold bites. Kunjumon ventured into the nearby bush to collect that days bullets. The day of the gunmen is very busy. Friends are yet to come. They have to leave the girls behind with their thongikali. The manhood exercises are to be accomplished. Kattapadams has to be tread. Great water wheels has to be pedalled with songs swaying in the winds.
Mirdul decided to hunt the galssy water snakes called neerkoli with his new bamboo gun. The little terrorists were preparing