eFiction India eFiction India Vol.02 Issue.09 | Page 71

STORIES

followed by her daughter and Raghavan
got down from the car and walked to her
husband. Seeing her son play with the
kitten that was supposed to be at home
now, she started yelling at her husband
whom she held responsible for pampering
the children.
“What in the world were you thinking
when you put that wretched cat in the boot?
It could have suffocated to death in there
and imagine the racket Lallu would create
at home or much worse what if it had laid
its accursed paws on my paint...?” She fell
short of the remaining sentence as her eyes
fell on her painting, now a lacerated canvas
hanging in shreds of pastel gold and green.
The colour drained from Mrs Nair’s face
as she looked at the disturbingly distorted
version of ‘Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear’.
There was acute silence for some time as
father, mother, daughter and driver looked
on in disbelief until Lallu spoke.
“Achaa, let’s not waste any more time. We
need to get some milk for Meow. She is
very tired. Paayasam will also do if we can’t
find any milk.”

70

Glossary
1. Pallu: the loose end of a saree
2. Paalada: a variety of paayasam served for marriages
and functions
3. Muhurtham: auspicious hour for a wedding
4. Kasargod: a northern district of Kerala
5. Vishukainetam: money received by children from
parents and relatives and domestic helps from their
employers keeping in tradition with the festival of
Vishu
6. Ezhuthachan: Thunchaththu Ramanujan
Ezhuthachan was an Indian, poet of Kerala from
around the 16th century
7. Vishu: Hindu festival in Kerala
8. Monae: a term in Malayalam used by grownups to
address young boys with affection
9. Nairs: a caste community belonging to Kerala
10. Kutta: a term in Malayalam used by grownups to
address children with affection
11. Paayasam: a delicacy similar to rice pudding served
at marriages and other special occasions

eFiction India | June 2014