Ammiyaar's Saree
The summer evening in Pune called for some fresh fruit juice and two oranges were called to order. The small plastic juicer was uncovered, knives unsheathed and chop - the oranges were squeezed to its utmost ability. Conversation moved to old fashioned efficiency. My grand uncle, who has a story for every occasion and every situation pulled a story out of his bag and the story of Ammiyaar's Saree got woven into the conversation
As told by CKUS:
A few decades ago when all was good with the world but money was scarce, Ammaiyar was looking for ways to recycle. She brought out all her old 9-yard sarees. They had been worn down from years of use. She cut them into 3 parts and the Pattar began to use them as his 'mundu' (dhoti). After it had fulfilled its duty as a mundu for the next few years, it was then cut up into smaller pieces to be used as nappies for the baby. The baby grew up and the need for nappies were outgrown and the bits of saree were then further cut up to be used to line the idli thattu. When the Ammiyaar decided that the saree had done its time as a lining, she cut it up for the last time and used the fabric scraps to coat the dosa tawa with oil...a homegrown gridle brush. Have you ever heard of anyone more efficient with recycling.
What do you think... was the Ammiyaar a little crazy or just crazy efficient?
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This series is a bunch of stories from different people in my family. May these stories serve as testimony for the past and as memory for their teller.
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