Why this ?
My mother, Kunjuannamma Varghese or Ammukutty, ( Mummy to me) had a way with Pazhanchollu. It was part of her way of either saying something happy, scolding you, geeing you up or just for a laugh. While I was young and the recipient of many of these proverbs, I found that I used them quite often in my later life. All of them made absolute sense. Just scroll down the list of proverbs I have transliterated below:
A few of her Pazhanchollukal – Proverbs
a. Oru kunjinnodu maathav pithakalkkulla sneham aah kunju maathavu pithakalkku undengil, puzha thirichu ozhukum – If a child has love for it’s parents as much as the parents love the child, the river will flow backwards.
This was the most fascinating and thought provoking of her proverbs. It was only after I married and had my own children that I figured this one out. We always believe that as children we love our parents as much as they love us – but that is mostly not true. Once we get married the balance tilts in favour of our spouse and then the scales tilt completely when our children come along. For parents, their child is the most important person and the person you will love the most, after your spouse. Sometimes more than your spouse. When the child starts to grow up it gets friends, then friends of the opposite/same sex who they love, maybe marry and slowly they spend more energy on these relationships. Their love is now divided between so many people and the parents move into a smaller fraction.
b. Pazhuthe ela veezhumbol pacha ela chirikkum – The young leaf laughs when the old leaf falls down.
My mum would always say this when young people laughed at older people and their failings. It simply meant that when we laugh at an older persons failing we forget that one day, we will become old. We may have similar issues.
c. Thalla cholla vaval kilukkanam jaathi or Thalla cholla vaval thala kizhakaam thookkum. Bats hang down their heads just a s mothers say.
This is an interesting proverb. It speaks of doing what one’s mother says. I used to keep hearing this and never understood what Mummy meant till just a short while ago. Obviously, I did not learn what she meant to convey and I never got around to asking her the meaning.
d. Vella thechha shava kallara – A tombstone that is painted white outside.
When she came across people who acted nice in public but were devious within themselves she used this term. The meaning is that while the tombstone looks nice because it is painted white outside, you don’t realise what it holds inside – death and decay.
e. Mongan kidakkunna pattiyude male thenga veenu – A coconut fell on a dog who was waiting to wail
This was used when something bad happened to a person who was already suffering from something or the other.
f. Shankaran veendum thengil – Shankaran is back on the coconut tree.
This was always said when either I was going back to school, or my siblings were returning to Europe after an enjoyable stay . It spoke about the person left at home having to go back to a lonely existence.
g. Nalla kudumbathil pattiyum janikkum – A dog ( the animal is referred derisively here) can also be born within a good family.
This was normally said when you met and dealt with some lousy person who belonged to a well known family. As we all know, in Kerala, it is socially important to be from a ‘well known’ family. I’m sure you have met such people in your lives
h. Pattikku meeshayullathum avanu degree ullathum, ellam onnu thanne – That person having a degree is as worthless as a dog having a moushtache.
This one, a favourite of mine, came out first when one of my Dad’s cousins, who in those days had a Masters from Oxford, turned out to be useless when he was asked to intervene, as an educated elder, in some matter. It goes without saying that we must have experienced such characters in our lives. This one always made me laugh.
With these eight, I will end the first instalment of Mummy’s Pazhanchollukal. I hope you enjoyed them.
I must confess that I make use of these proverbs and many more she used in my daily life. I have thrown back some of her proverbs at her especially the first one when I told her that in my case, the river would flow backwards as I believed that I loved her more than she loved me. Of course, it didn’t go down well, but it served the purpose.
Asgard Thor – Koshy Varghese
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