Today morning as I was getting out of bed, Mira called out to me from the drawing room: "Amma, where have you kept my leave letter?" She did not go to school yesterday as she had fever and needed to submit a letter from the parent stating the reason.
I told her as I headed to the bathroom that I had kept it atop the gramophone. She did not know what it was and searched high and low. But my worldly-wise maid who grew up in a Kerala of gramophones and radios, spotted it for her.
"Is this thing called a gramophone?" I heard Mira ask in wonder. To her, it was another of her father's acquisitions, a "pattupetti" which we never used.
"Yes," the maid said expansively. "ഗ്രാമങ്ങളിൽ ഉപയോഗിച്ചിരുന്ന ഫോണ് ആയതു കൊണ്ട് ഇതിനെ ഗ്രാമഫോനെന്നു പറയുന്നു (it is called so because it was used in the gramas or villages)".
She helped me start my day with mirth and much laughter!
No comments:
Post a Comment