Amman Amman Ooracha

Once upon a time there lived a family consisting of a father, mother and their beautiful daughter. Let us call her Paru (in the original story there is no name for the girl, just oru ponnu irundhalam). When the girl grew up, the parents wanted to get her married and started looking for an eligible groom. One day a young man was brought to their house by the village elders. The father welcomed them all and asked them to be seated. He then asked the village elders who the young man was. The village elders said, “this young man belongs to a village a little further away from here. He has come looking for a girl for marriage. After we talked to him, we thought that he would be a good match for Paru.” Paru’s father was very happy and asked the young man about his family and other details. The young man replied that he came from a reputed family and that his parents were rich.

So it was decided that Paru would be married to this young man and soon the day arrived for Paru to leave for her husband’s home. Paru was very sad that she had to leave her loving parents and other relatives and friends to a far away place where she did not know anyone. The elders in the family consoled her saying, “Don’t worry, your husband is a very good man. So his family also must be good. They will take good care of you. And you are not going very far away. Whenever you feel like seeing us, just send a message to us. We will come and bring you home.” They bade farewell to her and Paru and her young husband started their journey towards her new home. In those days there were no vehicles to travel from place to place and all the travelling had to done by foot.

So Paru and her husband walked and walked crossing rivers and fields and mountains. It was almost midday and yet there was no sign of any village. Paru was very tired of all the walking, so she asked her husband, “Amman, Amman, Ooracha?” (Have we reached our village yet, Uncle) to which her husband replied, “Innamoraru kadakkavenum” (we have to cross one more river). They walked for a long distance again and there was still no sign of any village. Paru was very exhausted and thirsty so she once again asked her husband, “Amman, Amman, Ooracha” and her husband replied, “innamoraru kadakkavenum.” They crossed more rivers and walked for long and it was evening and still there was no sign of any village. Paru could not walk any more. She was tired and thirsty and hungry, so she asked her husband once again, “Amman, Amman, Ooracha?“

Her husband was very irritated by her constant asking and he angrily replied, “Chumma irukkayo, swaroopathe kattattumo?” (Will you shut up or do you want to see my true form). Paru was very frightened by his anger and started walking again. After some time, with still no village in sight, Paru once again asked her husband, “Amman Amman, Ooracha?” Her husband got so angry that he roared and when Paru looked towards her husband she saw a huge lion roaring in front of her. The lion said, “now keep quiet and walk with me.” Shivering with fear Paru followed the lion and at last at nightfall, they reached the lion’s den in the forest.

Upon reaching the den, the lion, for it was a lion that had disguised itself as a young man and married Paru, told her, “I have three cubs and my wife is dead. I have married you to take care of my little ones. You have to be their mother and take care of all their needs. Cook for them, bathe them, play with them. You cannot escape from here.” Paru had no other go but to accept everything that the lion said because she was so far away from home. The lion would go out every day and hunt and bring food for her and the cubs. Paru would cook food and feed the lion and the cubs and do all the other work in the house. Whenever she was alone she would feel very sad and cry at her fate. After some time she decided that crying would not help and she had to devise a plan to escape from there. So she started thinking of ways and means to escape from there. She could not go from there back to her village alone as she was not sure of the route.

One day she saw a crow and decided to tie a letter to the foot of the crow. She wrote a detailed letter to her father saying that her husband was actually a lion and had cheated them all by taking human form and she had been assigned to cook for the lion’s cubs. She asked her father to come very soon and take her back. She also wrote that the lion would go hunting every morning and would return only in the evening, so her father should come to take her when the lion was away. She tied the letter to the crow’s feet and waited for a reply. Soon the crow brought the reply from her father saying that he would come and take her back. Paru waited for her father to come. Paru’s father came to the lion’s den the next morning when the lion was away. Paru put an iron griddle on the stove and caught and tied the lion cubs above the griddle so that they would get cooked and the fat in their body would drip on to the griddle, making a sizzling sound. Paru’s father locked the house from the inside and they both escaped from lion’s den and ran from the forest as fast as they could so that the lion would not catch them.

When Paru and her father reached their village, Paru’s father called a village meeting and narrated how the lion had cheated all of them and how he had brought back Paru with him. All the villagers were very angry at the lion for making fools of them all and were happy that Paru was back safe. They all agreed that the danger was not yet past. The lion was sure to come back angrier and kill them all for what Paru and her father had done to the cubs. So all of them devised a plan. The filled the well in Paru’s compound with dry leaves and twigs and spread a beautiful carpet on top of it.

The lion came back to its den in the evening and knocked at the door. Nobody opened the door. Through the door he could get the smell of burning fat and the sound of the dripping fat. He thought Paru was cooking a nice meal and eating it all alone. “Chuttu Chuttu thinnu, Iru Iru Varen” (You are cooking sizzling dishes and eating it all alone, wait till I come) roared the lion. He went around the den and knocked again and again and yet nobody opened the door. He was mad with anger and smashed the door open and went inside. What he saw inside made him more angry and when he saw the condition of his cubs he just could not control himself. He knew that Paru had escaped and decided to teach Paru a lesson.

The next morning he took the form of a young man again and dressed in nice clothes started towards Paru’s village. He met the village elders and along with them went to Paru’s house. As had been decided earlier Paru’s family welcomed him showing lot of love and affection and led him towards the well which was filled with dry leaves and twigs and made him sit on the carpet on which were kept trays of good food. The young man went towards the carpet to sit and as he stepped on to the carpet his feet sank in the dry leaves and twigs and he fell deep into the well. The villagers then filled the well with mud and sand so that the lion could never come out. Paru and her parents lived happily ever after.

Kozhukattai Story

One day Patti was making kozhukkattais. When she had made the upma and made nice round balls of kozhukkattais and put them to be steamed, there came the ambe, ambe, sound of Patti’s favourite cow, Komu. Komu was just returning after grazing in the the forest for the whole day and now she needed water and Kanji. Patti went to the backyard and allowed Komu into the cowshed and tied her to her post. She then gave Komu her water and Kanji. After talking to her for sometime (yes, Patti used to talk to Komu, as if she were her child or friend) Patti went inside. She opened the pot to see if the Kozhukkattais were done and found that they were not yet properly cooked.

So Patti asked, “Kozhukkattai, Kozhukkattai, aen veakalai?” (Hello Kozhukkattai, why are you not cooked yet)
To which Kozhukkattai replied, “Adupperiyalai, Naan veakalai.” (the stove was not lit, so I am not cooked)
So Patti asked the stove, “Aduppe, Aduppe, aen Eriyalai?” (Oh stove, why were you not burning?)
The stove said, “Veragu vaikkalai, Naan eriyalai.” (Nobody kept firewood, so I did not burn)
Patti turned to her daughter-in-law, “Mattuponne, Mattuponne, aen veragu vaikkalai?” (Oh dear daughter-in-law, why did you not put firewood in the stove?)
Daughter-in-law answered, “Kozhandai azhudduthu, Naan veragu vaikkalai.” (The baby was crying, so I did not put firewood)
Patti cooed to the baby, “Kozhande, Kozhande, een azhuthai?” (Oh my dear child, why did you cry)
The baby wept, “Erumbu kadichuthu, Naan azhuthen.” (Ants bit me so I cried)
Patti approached the ant, “Erumbe, Erumbe, een kadichai” (Oh ant, why did you bite the baby?)
Erumbu said, “En pothukulle kale pottal naan kadikathiruppeno” (Will I not bite if somebody put their foot into the ant-hill?)

P.S. Many of these stories would appear to end abruptly. This is a story said in a sing song way and the verses are in rhymes. At the end of the story, the child is tickled in its foot with the verse, ”En pothukulle kale pottal naan kadikathiruppeno.” So the story ends there. It is also meant to teach the children not to play with ant-hills, which were plenty those days.

The Story of the Two Cats and the Cake They Shared

This story is based on a Malayalam nursery rhyme I had learned as a child. Though I have been trying to recollect the rhyme in full for months now, I have been able to remember only 2 verses. I am sure there are people who who might know the whole rhyme. If so, you are welcome to add the missing verses in comments. Thank you!

The verses ran like this:

Pandoru dhinam, randu poochakal
Koduvannorappakashnam panku vaikkuvan
Vangabudhiyam vanaran kayyil
Sankyenniye koduthu panku vaikkuvan

(I remember only these 2 verses)

It can be roughly translated as

Once upon a time two cats
Had a treat  to share.
They gave it to the monkey
Sure he would be fair!

I have built the following story from the above verses. Happy Reading!

Once upon a time there were two kittens named Mia and Pussy. They were great friends and always played together. Wherever Pussy went, Mia followed and wherever Mia went Pussy followed. Their parents were very happy about their friendship. They went around their neighbourhood singing, dancing and playing. All their neighbours loved them for they were very lovely and friendly cats.

Ms Marjari was a lovely cat who lived down the the road. She liked Pussy and Mia very much and often invited them for small treats like a piece of cake.

One day, Ms Marjari called them, as they were playing in front of their house. “Hello Pussy and Mia,” said Ms. Marjari. “Hello Ms. Marjari, How do you do?” asked Mia and Pussy in unison. “Come along, I have a surprise for you,” said Ms. Marjari. “Here we come,” said Pussy and Mia and ran inside Ms. Marjari’s house, excitedly. They were sure of getting a good treat. “Come in and sit down,” said Ms Marjari. Pussy and Mia sank in Ms Marjari’s soft as feather sofa. “Sing a song for me,” Ms Marjari told Pussy and Mia. Pussy and Mia sang a very beautiful song for Ms Marjari. Ms Marjari was very happy and said, “Thank you very much Pussy and Mia and here comes the surprise.” She brought a delicious rich chocolate cake and gave a piece to Pussy and Mia. She said, “now you both go home and share the cake. I have to go out now.”

Pussy and Mia were very happy and came out singing and dancing. They couldn’t wait to eat the cake till they reached home. So they went to the park nearby and opened the packet. “Now,” Pussy said, “I will divide the cake equally.” Mia replied, “no, no, I shall divide it equally, I am older than you.” Pussy said, “that is not fair, I shall do it, Ms Marjari gave it to me.” Mia would not agree. They continued arguing about who would divide the cake .

Atop a tree in the park, where Pussy and Mia were sitting and arguing, was a cunning Monkey called Vanar. He was all the while watching their argument. “Ah, here comes my chance of getting that lovey cake all for myself,” he said to himself.

He came down the treee and stopped near Pussy and Mia as if to find out what was happening. “Hello Pussy and Mia, what is happening? What are you arguing about?” Pussy said, “Hello Vanar, Ms Marjari gave us a cake and asked us to share it. Mia won’t allow me to cut the cake.” Mia said, “I can cut the cake evenly, but Pussy would not allow me.” The cunning Vanar said, “don’t worry my friends, now that I am here I will cut the cake into two equal parts and give to you.” Both Pussy and Mia agreed to this and gave the cake to Vanar. Vanar took the cake and bit it into two parts and told Pussy and Mia to take one piece each. But Pussy and Mia were not happy as one piece was big and the other was small. Vanar said, “don’t worry, I shall make them equal.” He bit into the bigger piece and swallowed a piece and kept the other piece near the other piece and said, now they are equal. Pussy and Mia found that the new piece was smaller and the earlier piece was bigger. “Don’t worry friends,” said Vanar, “I shall make them equal.” He took the bigger piece and bit into it making it smaller and eating a piece himself. “Now they are equal, you can have one piece each,” he said. Pussy and Mia found that again they were of unequal size. “I shall make them equal,” said Vanar again and bit into the bigger piece. This continued until there was only a small piece left. Pussy and Mia were very sad that they were not getting any cake and Vanar was enjoying their cake. They said, “please give the cake piece back to us, we will divide it ourselves.” The wicked Vanar said, “what reward am I getting for spending all my time dividing your cake? So this piece of cake shall be my reward.” So saying, he gulped the remaining piece of cake and jumped up the nearest tree and hopped away merrily. Both Pussy and Mia were very sad and started crying.

Who should come there then but Ms Marjari. Seeing both Pussy and Mia in tears, Ms Marjari asked them why they were crying. Pussy and Mia told Ms Marjari about their fight and how Vanar ate the whole cake. Ms Marjari told them, “Mia and Pussy, you are good friends. Good friends never fight. You should have divided the cake yourselves and enjoyed it. Fighting over the cake you lost your cake. And never trust a stranger. Now don’t cry, come along, I shall give you both a piece of cake.” Ms Marjari gave them both a piece of cake each and they thanked Ms Marjari and promised that they would never fight again.