Kutten was digging the soil around the palm tree with a hoe. I was scared to go near the palm tree (yakshi lives on the palm tree). However I needed Kutten’s help. So I said a novena in malayalam and went to where Kutten was working.
“Chetta, will you help me?” I asked him
“What help do you need Kochumaharani?”
“I want to fish, will you make me a fishing rod?”
“You want to go to the river to fish now?”
“Yes!!”
“Does your grandmother know?”
“No”. I shook my head
“Then you can make the fishing rod yourself”
“Why Can’t I go fish now?”
“because, the river is overflowing and it is too dangerous to fish now.”
“I am bored, I hate coming here, I am always told, I can’t do this and I can’t do that”.
Kutten stopped digging and looked at me.
“Do you want to go for a treassure hunt?”
“Treassure hunt? Here?” I asked him
“Hmmm,”he nodded his head
‘What are we looking for?”
“Cashew nuts”
“But there are no cashew nuts on the tree now, they all finished last month.”
“ofcourse, there is no cashew nut on the tree, we are going to look on the floor”
“huh?” I looked at him.
“Come with me and I will show you.”
I followed Kutten and we headed towards the cashew trees. Kuttten was searching for something on the floor and then he found it. He pulled out a small plant from the ground. It has just sprouted and have just the seed leaves(cotyledon).
“Here, try this Kochumaharani”. he pulled the cotyledons and gave me.
“Are you sure I can eat this?”
“ofcourse”
I tried it and it was really crunchy and tasty, soon Kutten and I was busy looking for cashew cotyledons growing on the ground.
“Chetta, do you know how cashewnut got its name?”
“No, I don’t”.
“sit down and I will tell you the story”.
I collected few cotyledons and sat down on a small rock. I stretched my leg and while munching the cotyledons, I began my first official story telling session.
Kutten squatted on the floor waiting in anticipation for the story. I began my story
“Long ago, before the whites came to India, we used the old monetory system of Kash and Anna coins. When Vasco de Gama came to our port in Calicut(AD 1498), they saw a man pushing a cart full of funny shaped fruit and yelling
“kashinettu, kashinettu”(8 for 1 Kash)
“The travellers were hungry and they came to inspect the cart,they didn’t know what fruit it was, so they asked the seller,pointing the cashew ‘what is this’ ?”
“The seller didn’t understand what the travellers were asking him and he kept repeating kashinettu (8 for 1 Kash). The travellers thought the name of the fruit is kashinettu. Eventually the travellers took some fruit from the cart and ate. They liked it very much and they called the fruit “Cashewnut” .
“How did you learn this story,Kochumaharani?”
“Appa told me. Did you like my story?”
“ofcourse, but now I have to go back to work”. Kutten got up and started walking.
I was pleased with my first story telling session and just as I got up, I spotted Chackochan. He is doing something he is not supposed to, and I showed Kutten
“Chetta look!”
“oh oh”. Kutten said
Together we ran all the way home to get Ammachi.
Vasco Da Gama
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/gama_vasco_da.shtml