THE OLD BALD MAN FROM CHENGANNUR

 

An old bald man from Chengannur,

Married a young pretty lass from Trivandrum. 

He didn't have MI.

He sang tuneless sa-ri-ga-ma slapping his fat thigh.

At night he slinked into the maid-servant's room.

His daughter saw, had a breakdown.

He didn't care a hoot.

This old bald man from Chengannur.

 

Some say mental illness runs in families 

While offering homilies.

Little do they know that incest runs in some 

bloodlines.

Skips a generation maybe. But runs it does.

And how.

 

 

 

 

Phyllanthus niruri - Keezhanelli

Phyllanthus niruri known as Keezhanelli in Malayalam springing in the rain in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

The south west monsoon has set in.

Keezhanelli standing in a pit of laterite soil brimming with rain water.

There was stillness while collecting the seeds of Keezhanelli after the monsoon had moved from Kerala to other parts of India in 2017.

The tender leaves of Keezhanelli are ground into a paste using coconut milk and given to those convalescing from jaundice and liver ailments.

This was part of the traditional knowledge handed from generation to generation in Travancore.

Keezhanelli is also known as 'stone breaker' in common parlance.