This maami’s pickles sell, by word of mouth

Living alone, Alamelu Ammal, 84, loathes to sit idle. Her pickles and kondattams are in demand, reports A Satish
This maami’s pickles sell, by word of mouth

PALAKKAD: The enthusiasm of 84-year-old Alamelu Ammal – aka Ponnu Maami – of Kalpathy is contagious as she describes her passion for her chosen beat. That of making pickles and kondattams (fryums). For the past 30 years.

The small board in front of her house stating that pickles are available have become illegible. But that hardly matters. For the word of mouth alone assures her business. She climbs the wooden stairs of her traditional agraharam house with ease as the plastic cans and vessels of pickles are kept on the ground and first floors. A few deep breaths, and she is back to explaining the pickle-making process. As fit as a fiddle.

“My two children, who are in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode respectively, advise me to rest. But I like to pursue my profession as I cannot sit idle,” she said. While she used to make all types of pickles and kondattams, now she sticks to tender mangoes and some varieties of rice pappads.

“I never purchase on credit. That was a quality instilled by my husband, Subramania Iyer, who passed away 10 years ago. ‘You shouldn’t ask for credit from people who live a hand-to-mouth existence’, he would advise,” she said.

She does all work herself, and doesn’t hire workers. “Occasionally, my sister comes down to help. I have purchased a packing machine. I also weigh packets myself. But I keep only ten packets ready,” she said.   
Ammal said many shopkeepers arrive seeking bulk quantities, but she refuses. “I only give to individuals as I don’t do it simply to make money,” she said.

Ammal was married off to Kannur where her husband was a farmer. “But the returns dwindled gradually. I asked my husband to come to my village three decades ago. Though reluctant, he joined me and we settled down in Kalpathy,” she said.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com