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Monday, May 25, 2020

The Horlicks God


Some thing I posted in FB, sharing it here for everyone.



~The Horlicks God~


As a 5 year old my visits to my dads ancestral house took me to a small side kitchen in that house. A place where the earthen clay stove "aduppu" blackened with charcoal where smoke smell is always fresh. Inside this 8 x 8 ft kitchen you will find 2 almirahs or counters full of spices, pickles and many more. I see my mother acquiring some assets from here every time we return from vacation. I visited there to steal some "Horlicks" powder from my Grandmother "Muthiyamma"'s collections. Beating the watchful eyes of my cousins and eagle eyed grandpa "Muthacha'" and I have been successful almost every time. I still haven't found a blissful moment yet in my life like how i used to take a scoop full of Horlicks into my small palm and gulp them into my mouth as if its powdered Tequila. The taste buds in my mouth go for a dance and announced to my brain "Once More Bro". Fear of Muthiyammas stare kept my brain sane and we moved on.

One day in an early morning Horlicks adventure I found that someone has changed its location. I jumped and climbed on a step-stool to browse through the almirah and found it hiding behind a black box. Imagine a moment when you have found worlds greatest treasures and that moment was just like that. Before I could put my hand deep down into the jar I was startled by a faint voice which said "Ambadaaa!!!" which almost translates to "Attaboy!" . I have this problem with universal language English that it doesn't have an ability to translate my native emotions. (I will address that in a different post). Especially when in a remote palakkad village different Ambadaaa's can be used to express cleverness, stupidity, significance, sympathy and achievement alike.



It was my Muthacha standing behind me making sure I don't fall from the Almirah upon which I am hanging like a cliff hanger. He carefully helped me down and gave me a small plate with 2 scoops of Horlicks in it. And he said something like "There is a way to eat everything". For a 5 year old boy well it meant nothing but it definitely added more love to his grand father. Amongst many other adulations I had in my mind I added the "Horlicks God".  Because as per "Ammamma"'s rendition there is a god in everyone and god visits us in many forms to ease the burden called life. I definitely have took the person=god theory well as I always see a God in everyone. Unlike the greek gods my gods are simple they represent things that have happened in my life.  Since then every afternoon on a holiday when every one in the family is deep in their leisure sleep. Me, Muthacha and 2 cats at that time in our house visited the kitchen to steal some Horlicks. We made sure we ate it in a plate and washed it and kept it back as we found it. He claims he found his cat like nimbleness and grace from his Indian Army days. More about his military stories in the next post.



~Thank You~