The original house was too small for the family and hence was extended sideways into a long tiled house, which is difficult to photograph in a single picture. Initially, when there was no Sunday School for children in the area, a multi-denominational Sunday School was conducted in the front courtyard of the house. Rev. Fr Oommen of the Marthoma Church was an essential part of the Sunday School and my mother in law would feed the kids with Aval vilayichathu, Vada, Plantain etc.
By the time I was married to the youngest son of the house, there was a chapel and later a full-fledged parish of the Orthodox Church nearby. All sons and daughters were settled in Thiruvananthapuram, except we two, who being in the bank, went from one place to another.
What I remember most about my mother -in-law is her spotless white chatta and mundu. Sangeetha and Ranjit, the younger daughter of my sister in law Leela and the young son of my brother in law Joy are missing in the picture. I remember that Ranjit was sick.
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i remember the wedding day, and the festivities, the full house, the cooking and preparations at the back; there were so many guests staying over that we got to stay up very late. i was running errands for ammachi and had tasks to accomplish towards the day’s events including setting up the room for the newly weds to stay in. It was a special day for my favorite uncle. Saritha and i had our new pink dresses to wear and flower girl duties to carry out. i remember thinking that your gold saree must be very heavy to wear and carry around 🙂 My young mind had decided that day itself that you were a worthy addition to my family. how true that turned out to be…Love you, Susanammamma.
Thanks Manju, Saritha and Anju. You are all special people and close to our hearts. I wanted a photo of our Thiruvalla house,( my paternal grandfather’s) but the new owners have demolished it. I thought I would keep one of Ambalamukku House so that even if it is taken down, we would have the pictures.