how they lived, and that too sustainably those days

this is what I have seen in my grandmothers and aunts house in the village, when I was a little girl. and also based on a lot of primary information gathered from older generation.

how they were sustainable, their food habits and how they remained healthy till they were alive.

no vegetable vendors too or shops. vendors were those who brought sarees, utensils and other goodie foods like ice-apple (Nongu in Tamil). vendors either used cycles or walked and carried all those.

this shows that people ate what only grew locally and seasonal. everyones house had a small backyard where they grew curry leaves, coriander, mint, tomatoes, and the creepers and climbers like pumpkin both white, and orange grew behind too. in some houses they had separate trellis in bamboo constructed for these. jasmines, sevanthipoo were also grown.

they grew different herbs; like karpooravalli, seendhil, thooduvalai, aadathodai, tulsi. ad for simple ailments like cough and cold they used all these and made khashayams and drank. no doctors no medicines.

there was a vaithiyar in every village who just felt the pulse and tells what was the problem. he treated all ailments from HIV to snake bites.

all houses had mango, jackfruit and banana trees, neem trees, papaya trees. food was served on banana leaves only or on silver plates for the affluent. they also had drumstick trees and eating cooked drumsticks, leaves twice a week was compulsory. iron taken care of

food was cooked in iron, or bronze, clay or soap stone vessels. iron needs taken care of

bananas was a compulsory fruit for all three times and also in all festivals and functions.

water was drawn from the well in the houses that had them, or a common well that was present in each village, where in one go atleast 20 women drew water. so much of laughter and conversation there. if there was a river, then they brought water from there.

during rains they always had huge vessels to collect the water. even now you can find that practice in Chettiar houses.

good exercise and also fresh water was ensured.

after food, betel leaves, with kotta paaku, and Sunnambu was compulsory.

calcium taken care of.

fresh cold pressed oil was extracted from ground nut seeds, sesame seeds and coconuts.

there were a couple of ox driven extractors where people took seeds to extract oil. oil also was stored for almost 6 months or so.

in April they purchased all the spices that are needed for a year. they dry them in the sun and then store them in big boxes and use what is only needed. all came packed in jute gunny bags. no plastics, no waste.

they had a huge pantry where all these were stored either in brass, bronze, natural fibres like bamboo baskets, coir baskets etc, glass bottles and porcelain jars. later came stainless steel.

they brought everything out once in Amavasai (no moon day) and dried them and stored them back.

all dhalls were smeared with castor oil and kept so that no insects attacked them. or they were stored with neem leaves. no pesticides or chemicals.

April and May was a busy season where all the women got together in huge courtyards and made vadagam ( a dry accompaniment which has to be fried and consumed). vadagam was made using rice, green chillies, javvarisi, primarily.

these were cooked and then made into shapes and dried on a thin cotton cloth. then stored in huge tin boxes for later use. almost till the next summer these will come handy. these are fried and eaten as an accompaniment with the rice.

various seasonal pickles were made. like mango, avakaai, narthangai, kalakkai, gadarangai, mango ginger. then stored in huge porcelain jars. full of probiotic and comes handy when there are no vegetables to cook and it also enhances the taste of the food to next level.

almost every house had a cow for the family. so they milked in the early morning and in the evenings. so milk, curd, buttermilk, ghee was taken care of.

the lifestyle of the people was in such way, that exercise was part of daily routine, simple, local seasonal food. proper balance of greens, vegetables and fruits, cooking methods preserved the nutrition, fresh unadulterated water was used. and most important was the women and men got together and shared a good rapport and so mental illness was taken care of.

Intermittent fasting was a common practice. Earlier it was called “Viradham”, where they drank only water till evening six and then had light fruits and milk.

there is another type of viradham where they had a balance of all macros and micros in the morning around 10 am and then the whole day they fasted only with water. later at night a banana.

There is still a community in TamilNadu who eats traditional Tamil Style food around 10 am with different types of dhalls, kootu, poriyal and rasam, vathakulambhu, varuval and oorugai. (pickles) and fries. And around 4 pm they have another full protein meal like Adai which is a combination of different deals (paruppu) and an Avial (various veggies with coconut and curd)

a classic combination that you will find in many restaurants.

the staple food everyday was

breakfast: ragi kali with a nice greens curry, papaya saadham (fermented rice rich in B12), idli or dosai or adai.

lunch was vegetables sambhar, a rasam, and a home set curd. with seasonal vegetables, fries and pickles.

dinner was a repeat of lunch, except that rice was kept fresh.

washing vessels were done by the women. they used the stoves ash and the coconut fibre as a scrubber. the waste water was fed to the plants.

men went into fields where they grew rice, millets, oil seeds, and vegetables like onions and tomatoes, ground nuts.

there was a weekly Sandhai where all vendors and buyers meet. and exchanged goods or bought them. they sold everything here right from combs to cows.

entertainment for the people:

weekly Sandhai was a mini exihibition sort of, where they all met and chatted.

they all visited village temples regularly, so they had their meet-ups there.

everyday few women in each lane got together to string the jasmines. while also gossiping.

they played palanguli, dhaayam etc.

once in a year huge temple festivals are conducted. where the relatives of the village people are also called in for the celebrations. celebrations goes on for a week. and I have experienced that. the entire village will be bursting with colours and life. you can walk inside any house and have food. not a single question asked.

weddings, puberty functions, naming ceremony of babies, ear piercing functions, valaikaapu (a bangle ceremony for pregnant women) all attract all the women in the village. for the bangle ceremony, the bangle seller is invited and anyone can get the bangles from him for free. the cost is borne by the girls parents.

touring theatre was common there and I have experienced how that cinema was.

I can go on and on. they truly were present and lived life. its not they were always happy and everything was a rosy story. but the basics were correct.

we are trying so hard to go back to the past and a small attempt is our farmhouse.

everyday I salute them for the pains that they endured and lived sustainably, without having seen that and lived that I will not have a clue of what was the history of their life. I should thank God for having got me experienced this life even though it was for short time every year. every vacation we spent there.