They were filled in huge jute sacks probably in counts of thousands and were broken as an offering to ones favorite deity, the fat belly Ganesha. The questions that lingered in my mind was never attended to, let alone be solved. It resparked my senses again, quite recently. Now coming back to the question- What can a God do with coconuts?! In a solution that one usually expects from god.. If you offer him money, he wouldprobably give it to the poor.. If you offer food then he would feed the hungry.. But why the coconuts and why in such a large number..?
(shift scene)
Mom has been cooking ever since I can remember seeing her, so thats a real long time. Whenever we'd complain of an averagely cooked meal, she'd conveniently blame the coconuts.
"You grate the coconuts, and i'll make the tastiest curries. Grating is hard for me, its a lot of effort" (yeah that would probably be because she has a belly as big as that of Ganesha's -i love you mom).
In the kind of food that our cuisine offers, a huge amount of taste and flavour is contributed by the products and by-products of coconuts, so that accounts to a lot of coconut usuage. Till date, my mom's story continues to hold position .
Why the coconuts?! Why them always? Haven't we Mallus faced enough ridicule with relation to coconuts already? Not that being Mallu means any lesser than being a Gujju or even a Tamilian amongst others. Infact I'm quite shamelessly proud of being Mallu. That is not even the point. The point is -
Mom wants coconuts-grated.
Gods want coconuts-broken.
Christine wants coconuts-(she knows why).
Alfy wants coconuts-so that he can remind me time and again that I'm a mallu.
My sister wants coconut shells-so that they can be painted in gold and can be hung, all around Ranga Shankara.
Shruti wants coconuts-well Shruti wants everything :P
P.T Usha wants coconuts-so that she can endorse tender coconut water.
My dad wants a coconut tree-so that we can be self sustained.
Its all about the coconut. You can please anyone with it, even P.T Usha.
Go fetch.
Rs.8- Rs.12 (depending on size).
Coming to all stores near you.
(The point is that i still don't know the answer)
I did NOT want those! =P Your thoughts are so random. You know what? When I get a laptop, I'm gonna make you sit in my room and write an article in your blog. :P
ReplyDeleteThat I'll do now also. :P
ReplyDeleteSomewhere deep down, i know you wanted it ^^
Bwahaha.. I'm evil.. :)
hahahah . .wat a coincidence, yday i spotted tender coconuts at the sidewalk almost after 2yrs !! yes it has been that long !! when i told my frnd how badly i wanted to have em he said,"You are sucha South Indian!". .damn !even i want coconuts *sigh*
ReplyDeletelol i like it a lot!!
ReplyDeletethe randomness of the article is brilliant and that question is something i'd like to get an answer to as well!!!
lol i like the part where u'v written why each person in ur life wants coconuts..nicely personalised =)
Ur style of approach is very captivating, like a fresh face in the crowd. Kudos!
ReplyDeleteThe nariyal aka coconut is said to resemble a human head with it's 2/3 eyes denoting our 2 eyes and the 3rd eye, so breaking the coconut is said to symbolify human sacrifice or sacrifice of self (ego) ==> thus succumbing once pride/ego before god.
Coconut also has lot of herbal benefits hence it is used vastly not only in kerala but also in malaysia, hawaii, etc.; furthermore not to mention the taste it brings. PITY THOSE OTHERS WHO HAVE NOT TASTED COCONUT IN DISHES... :-)
Hey.. Thank you for the information.. Evidently I was unaware of it. :P
ReplyDeleteAnd some ego one possess when they have to break a thousand coconuts inorder to sacrifice :P
Curry without coconut certainly doesn't qualify to being tasty, so true that :)