Holy Cow
Although my antecedents are Malayali, I have never actually lived in Kerala. When I was small boy, we used to regularly spend the summer vacations in Kerala. My Achamma (father's mother) was the base around which the family was organised. She lived in a small village called Chowwara. In those days it had just recently been electrified. Water was obtained using a bucket dropped into the well. The well was lined with mossy plants and a large lizard (or perhaps a small iguana) referred to as the 'Irma' also lived in the well (not in the water but along the ridges in the wall. Cooking was done in a wood-burning stove. There was a canal running in front of the house with channels leading into the fields. The place was green and full of life. There were coconut and pineapple and chakka (Jack Fruit) trees. There were tadpoles in the pools, all kinds of birds and butterflies, owls and bats at night. For a small boy it was an amazing place and I thoroughly enjoyed the vacations.