A typical day in the Palakkad Iyer family begins ideally at 6:00 AM with MS. Subhalakshmi’s Suprabatham and Bhaja Govindam playing till 7:00 AM. Unless the morning glass of “Filter Kaapi” is not served, even the active men on earth won’t find any energy. The coffee is served in a glass and a “davara” to make it cool. (The davara is a small bowl like thing, ideally if an elderly person stays in the house does not get the coffee in the glass and davara, be sure to face the wrath from them as coffee served in a davara is a huge sign of respect!!) Most Palakkad Iyer families have their parents either working in Banks, Post Offices and their most preferred mode of Investment is LIC Insurance. They believe that playing SAFE with money would give them HIGHER returns. For a Palakkad Iyer staying in Mumbai, a wedding would be considered worthy only if the caterer is either A.S. Rajashekhar or Ronak who serve the best Palakkad Meals on THE PLANTAIN LEAF. A Sunday meal in a Palakkad household would ideally be Avial (a mix pf vegetables cooked in curd) with Appalam and not Papdam (Papdam considering the high amount of salt and soda it contains). This is basically because all week long the family would be bored to death eating a minimum of 3 varieties of Sambar (the kashnum (vegetbles) being different – Mulangi (mooli), Murangikai (Drumstick) and Bhendi) and Sunday Avial would best meal to look for a change. If there is a festival like a Ganesh Chaturthi, Karthighai, the men would prefer Dal Vadaas along with the sweet served to get a mix of sweet and savories. A Palakkad household would watch TV at 11:30 each day on Monday -Friday and never miss a single episode of Kasturi. The 7:00 PM news on Sun TV is like their PRIME TIME SOAP. Their day would only end if they watch Metti Oli, Chellamey on Sun TV and discuss the episodes the nest day over the phone with relatives. A Palakkad Iyer may not do his Sandhyavandinam (Ritual) daily, but changes his poonal (sacred thread) every Avaniyavattam (Raksha Bandhan). He may not change the same until next year unless broken even if it is gone black with sweat. The poonal would be the best place to hang keys of almarih as no one apparently can pull it out. For every Palakkad Iyer, the native village would be either Tathamangalam, Noorani or Nochur. These are the hubs of Palakkad dominance. Every Palakkad Iyer father would be hoping that his son pursues C.A and daughter Company Secretary or ICWA. If not they will tell them to write SBI exams for sure. If nothing works out then their words would simply be “Complete your graduation in B.Com and then do anything you want to” In most cases Palakkad Iyer’s pursue B.Com or become Engineers only due to Parental Pressure. For them the visit to a Hotel ideally is to go to a Sarvana Bhavan or Anand Bhavan and order the same Masala Dosa and Filter Kaapi each time. Few Palakkad weddings are exceptional. It’s the only weddings (in Kerala especially) where you will find Poori and Chole served in a Plantain Leaf, Fried Rice or “Poolove” as they say rather as we say, and Curd Rice with Avakkai pickle (mango pickle) forming a part of the plantain leaf meal. Ice-Cream which supposedly in Mumbai Iyer weddings is served at end, is served in the beginnings. We Palakkad Iyer’s do not discuss Cricket and Movies at any weddings. Our discussions revolve around Jathagams (Horoscopes) and the next person in line to get married. If not Jathagams, the match-making process already starts even before the person watches each other eye to eye. When guests arrive at a Palakkad Iyer house they are served with either a “Tiffin” comprising of Idlis and Upma Koyakkate’s (Rounded Balls of Upma) or Sevai (Indian Maggie) and a sweet which is usually a Bhadushah or Kesari (Sheera). A Palakkad Iyer family in most vacations would not visit America, or any other town but his own hometown so that he could catch up with a game of 56 in the verandah outside on a hot summer afternoon. Playing cards is the most cherished hobby of Palakkad Iyer’s. For every Palakkad Iyer, the 3 biggest goals of life is Good Job, Good Career and Good Food.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 08:42:22 +0000
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