Tuesday, February 07, 2006

My Small Town - Valady

I was born in a small village named Valady in state (similar to county in England) named Tamilnadu in south of India. This also is the birthplace of my mother. The tradition in India dictates that the first child in a family will be born in the mother’s birthplace. Valady is a spiritually enriching place as it is very near to Srirangam, famous for its Sri Ranganatha temple.

I have very fond memories of this place. My father was settled in Kerala, another state adjacent to Tamilnadu. I and my brother used to visit this place once every year during the summer holidays to visit my grandmother and my uncle who lived there. His name is Natanam Mama (mama means uncle in Tamil). He could make one of best halwas & Mysore Pak (Indian sweets) that I have had. The sweets used to melt as soon as you put it in your mouth. Being a kid, this was divine. He used to be very fond of us kinds preparing all kinds of delicacies when he had the time.

I used to go there during summer holidays. And know what that is sugar cane time. Freshly cut sugar cane in the local markets used to make our mouth water. I used to get money from mom and buy the same from the market for all of us kids (almost 6-8 of us). My grandmother had a servant named Mari, who used to be an expert in sugar cane. He would come with us and select only the best. We used to sit in the village road, listening to his stories, He used to make different stuff him selves and give it to us. I get sentimental when I think of him. Such love and affection for kids without expecting anything from us.

Valady had one another charm. Its own small railway station. The train going to Madras used to go through this route. We used to wait eagerly everyday to see the train pass thru. Oh!! The fun of being a child, everything is a wonder. And after all these days of fun, the dreadful day used to come, when we had to return back to Kerala, taking with us the memories and the fun that we had, back to the dread of going to school.

Now a days I days I don’t get much chance to visit the lovely village. My uncle had an heart problem and surgery couldn’t help him. He left us and he left all of us loads of love and memories and God I can’t replay all of that. I miss him and his affection badly. I miss my childhood days in Valady.

13 comments:

Helsalata said...

You made it all come alive for me...thank you for sharing your memories!

Helen

Barani said...

Balaji, wonderful narration da !! Nice One.

Manchus said...

Oh my God! You captured the essence of Valady beautifully. My native is Valady too and I am proud of that place. I miss that very much as I am in US.

I came across your blog when I googled for Valady.

Balaji said...

hi manchus,

really glad to know that you liked it. And yes valady is a very nice place.

Do join the yahoo group Valady_Walas@yahoogroups.com

Anonymous said...

Hi,

Manchu & Balaji

Recently i had been to Valady..... its really pain for me to see the street.... no one is there...... when i was there from 1986 to 2003...... we had a group of friends, who used to play cricket in the street.... i visited to perumal kovil ( but the door was closed ) which is located infront of my house.... really i am missing those days....

regards
Madhavan (dalmia)

Balaji said...

I welcome you to join me in contributing to the Wikipedia entry for Valady. Photos, facts and interesting features are welcome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valady

Unknown said...

Hi Madhu,
Really i am also missing the Cricket which we used to play in our Street.

Rakesh (Raja)

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Hi, My native is Valady too. But the village is all changed now. Many houses have gone uncared.. and the beauty of the village is slowly getting lost. It was very sad to look at the place. Many have sold their houses and moved out overseas. Not many of my relatives are left out there still.. its really sad. All those periappa, mama, athai relations, they are all lost with time. Our great grand father Varadharaja Iyer was well known in the village. Now his house just stands as a monument with broken compound walls.

rajesh said...

hi
though am not a native of valady, i used to visit every year with family to the ulagayee amman temple. its a nice place. My dad lived and studied there for few years as a kid.

my kid also loves that place for its calmness.

rajesh

rajesh said...

hi
though am not from valady i used to visit that place every year with my family as my dad used to stay and study there when he was a kid. i really love that place and cherish all the memories. We used to go to Ulagayee Amman Kovil. My kid likes the place much too.

Rajesh

valadymadhu said...

After four years later, I am seeing he post thanks to a Valadian . Balaji is my nephew and I am elder bro of Nadanam. Such a nice post on Valadi by a valady dowhithran. Tears roll in my eyes as i read through the post. Yes Nadanam breathed his last on 18feb2000. Day before y/day ie friday 26/02/10 was his tenth death anniversary of this noble valdyian soul. His son did the annual sradhdham with his Mother at Matunga sankara Mutt Mumbai on 26feb2010 masi Sukla thrayodashi ( two days befor holi or masi mmagam ever emebering nadam by his elder brtoiehr valady madhu 280210

Unknown said...

I am also a Valadian. My Grandfather Balasubramanian Iyer was known and respected as Mappillai Iyer. He had his Grocery shop and Rice Mill. My Grand Mother's brother Sri Mani Iyer was Munschief of the village. My family is welknown even today in the village and I make it to visit the village once a year on the occasion of Annual Carnival of the village Deity Ulaganayaki.
I am sure, this is the only village which is well connected by public transport and rail. The most important about the village is inspite of many castes the people live harmoniously and there is no cases registered with any police station. The village also boast of home for many teachers/lecturers of leading colleges and schools in the district of Trichy.

Balasubramanian, Bangalore (Rajamani, s/o. Ramarathnam)