Chakki placed the pot on fire and started to cook the chicken curry.
Then Ammachi spotted us walking towards the house, “Chakki, hurry they are coming”. Chakki quickly took the pot away from the fire, removed few pieces of firewood from the stove and dashed out of the kitchen. She went to the granary and opened the newspaper cover and took few candies out. Chakki quickly walked to the front of the house and placed the sweets on the few croton plants that formed a line around the parapet wall..
“ Is the chicken curry ready Chakki?”
“Not yet Ammachi, I just took the pot away from the fire so it won’t burn, I will put it back on the fire now”, and she walked back to the kitchen.
As we reached the paddy, Appa decided to stop and have a look at the crop. All the while Appa was carrying me I was silently praying that Ammachi would remember to get me the candy, and now I was getting annoyed with Appa for wasting time and looking at the paddy.
” Let me down, I will walk home on my own” Appa gently lowered me to the ground and told me” Don’t run, just walk” and I nodded my head and bolted. I ran straight to the front of the house. I could see Ammachi sitting on the parapet wall, My heart was racing with all the excitement and running. I shook the first croton plant, then the next, finally from the fourth plant the candies dropped to the grounds. I squealed in delight and picked them up. There were 4 more plants and greedily I shook them too, hoping that Chakki placed some sweets on them too.
Ammachi shook her head and told me” edi kothichi, there are only caterpillars and worms in those plants”. I was so mad at my grandmother for calling me a kothichi, and showed her my tongue.
“ Edi Chakki, did the baby monkey escape from the zoo?”
I got even madder with her for calling me a baby monkey. I didn’t bother to give her my customary kiss. I lifted the edge of my dress and made a pouch to place the candies inside and walked to where my parents were standing. This time I got yellow and green colour candies. Last time Ammachi gave me orange and green colour candies. Small pieces of candies that look like an orange segment. I put one in my mouth and walked slowly hoping to finish eating the candy already in my mouth before meeting my mother. On the way I stopped near the jackfruit tree. I have to hide some of the sweets before my mother sees me. I made a cone with the jackfruit leaf and placed few candies inside and hid it under a pile of dried leaves.
“Did you get any candies?
My mother asked me. I nodded my head and showed her the sweets in my hand. She took them from my hand and asked me
” Which colour you want today?”
“Green” She gave me two green candies and placed the rest in her hand bag. She looked at my father and said “ How many times have I told your mother that I don’t want her to give these cheap candies to Nina?” These sweets have no cover and how many people must have touched them?” Appa didn’t say anything. He held my hand and we walked together to the house.