• Vendor Experience

• /

  2 Comments

A tale of abundance in simplicity

The darkness had not faded yet and the air was slightly chill, when Muthu and Sita boarded their TVS 50 at dawn to visit their relative, who lived in the next village. It was the bike they fondly purchased a few years ago. Selvam, their bubbly younger son always looked in awe at dads picking up their sons from his school in their motorbikes. Noticing this, Muthu and Sita began saving up the maximum they could, so Selvam could be picked up too.

How small, but fruitful all their little efforts were- the parents decided to grow some vegetables on the remaining patch of land, beside the malli thottam (garden). Pumpkins, chillies, brinjals, okras, bitter guards varieties of spinaches and herbs grew very well, while Vetri, their older son and Selvam would go to the sandhai (local market) every Sunday to sell them. Muthu and Sita owned a piece of land, which had been passed down the generations. Malli was their primary produce, but they did not see it as a mere commodity. They were emotionally attached to this little, white flower, for Muthu always saved a few blossoms, strung them together and neatly tucked it into his wife’s long braid every day and admired the fruit of their labor. He would say, “I would grow malli all my life just to adorn your long braid with it di. How beautiful you look!”. Each time he said this, Sita would blush in love and rush inside, to bring the hot food she had just prepared.

They set out to the farm together before dawn, worked hard all day, and she would come back home half an hour earlier than him, so she could cook the rice for dinner. At nights, the four of them would sit in the front yard of their small house and talk. Vetri attended college, and after he came back, conducted tuitions for the kids in and around his house, free of cost. He aspired to become a horticulturist and take care of their farm, while all that Selvam wanted to do was just sit on the bike in front of his dad and pretend to drive it speedily, holding the handle.

Sita asked Muthu, “Mama, do you remember? We planted the new set of malli plants last Akshaya Tritiyai. This year, those babies have grown up so well and are giving us a handful of malli each. Thank god for such prosperity- two adorable children, a farm full of fragrant malli, a house abundant in happiness, what more could we ask for?” Muthu smiled as he drove his bike and said, “Yes di, we need to be grateful for these blessings. But who knows, another surprise could be on your way!” Sita said in response, “Ponga mama, I don’t want anything more.” When he didn’t take the usual left, she asked him where they were heading, to which, Muthu said, “Let’s go to the town today, we can visit them next week.” She smiled and adjusted the pallu of her saree. When they got down, he took her to the bazaar and asked her what she wanted. She pointed at a kadalai stall and they bought a packet and munched on them. Muthu then grabbed her hand and marched towards a jewelry store. Sita looked at him and asked, “What mama? Why are we going here?” He just smiled and took her inside. He headed to the golden bangles section and bought a beautiful pair of them, and gifted it to her. Muthu said, “The seeds we sowed last Aksyaya Tritiyai are reaping excellent results. We are working with PooMallஐ now and our Madurai malli's fragrance travels across the world. This calls for a little celebration! So here is a small appreciation for the hands that planted them”. She was all smiles, after all, she had wanted bangles for quite a while, but didn’t expect golden ones!

When they went home, Vetri and Selvam were overjoyed at the purchase and all of them set out to the malli thottam, for a while. Vetri said, as Sita plucked a few flowers, “malligai indeed is our ponnaana malar amma! Look at how beautiful our farm looks and how well it takes care of us.” Selvam enthusiastically clicked a photo of his mother plucking the malligai on their phone. Their hearts were full and grateful for all they had at that moment.