Parippu Vadas

After the elementary school (upto 5^th standard) which was in our own village, the new school was about 6 kilometers away. To go to the school, we had to go near the temple, go over a hillock to the other side and get to the bus stop. We would not take the bus because it would cost money. We would walk the distance, but unlike bus, one could take shortcuts through the fields or someone's compound. One could - and did - pluck mangoes or cashew-fruits, at the risk of getting caught by the owner. And several times we did get caught and got scolded.

From our village, there were four of us boys, who would go and come back together. All would assemble near the temple and then would start climbing up the hill. By the time we passed the hillock and got down to the bus stop, we would be a bit tired. At the bus stop, another boy joined us.

His father owned a tea shop at the bus stop. Strong tea and big excellent Parippu Vadas (a cake made of lentils, chilli etc. fried in oil) were the specialities of the tea shop. By the time we pass the shop, usually our mouths were watered so much - colloquially almost as much as one could float a ship there.

A vada would cost 2 annas (today's 12 paise – as one USdollar is about 5000 paise today, I wouldn’t even attempt to convert it to dollar) and a glass of tea another one anna. None of us could afford it because none of us were provided with pocket money to spend.

I usually have kanji (rice porridge) with salt and pickles for breakfast in the mornings. My lunch was packed in a steel lunch box with two compartments. The lunch everyday invariably consisted of rice mixed with curd and salt with mango pickle. The gravy of the pickle smeared on top the rice and one piece of mango pressed into the rice. The second compartment contained a dry vegetable - usually boiled banana pieces or other vegetables soaked in coconut oil. In the afternoon, during lunch time, the five of us would sit together and share the lunch. The taste used to be divine, especially, as the lunch was shared with such camaraderie.

The only other intake during the day was free sambharam (buttermilk), supplied to any traveler, by the side of the road near to the school. This was usually available from morning till evening. After lunch, we used to rush to the spot, have two glasses of sambharam and rush back to the school. Many a times we would have another glass on the way back in the evenings, charging ourselves with energy from that buttermilk and the run upto the bottom of the hill.

There, once again we would inhale the divine smell of the vadas and start climbing the hill.

As days went by, the desire to taste those vadas grew stronger. At last one day with lot of hesitation, we told our friend that we wanted to taste those vadas, but we did not have any money. He, in turn, told his father and next day, we were asked to come a little earlier, so that we wouldn't be late for the school.

So, we reached the shop almost fifteen minutes earlier and his father put up a proposal. 

"OK, so you want vadas, but you do not have money."

“Yes, Sir! ", we mumbled.

"OK. No problem. I will give you three vadas each. If you are able to finish all the three, before my boy gets ready and come, the vadas are free for you. But if you don't finish all the three, then you will have to pay. I will give you water to drink only after you finish eating the three vadas. What do you say?"

We all said we were ready.

But when we put the first piece of vada into our mouths, we cursed ourselves for being so  foolhardy. leap we took. The vadas were so hot. Not the temperature hot, but the spicy 'z..z..z..z..' hot. By the time we finished one vada, we had streams running down from our eyes.

Seeing us struggling with second one, the father came out saying that if we wanted, we could stop and he wouldn't charge us. But we would have none of it. We finished three vadas each, drank lot of water and ran to the school. On the way, we drank buttermilk to our heart's contend. Even then in the class we did 'z..z..z..' sometimes.

We did ask our friend if the vadas were so chilly-hot everyday or they were special for us. He said it was the same and it tastes still better if we took it with hot glass of strong tea.