POWRAHA AND PICKAXE Dear friends,
Before Onam I was particularto clean my compound and front area for welcoming Mahabali. In the front area busheshad overgrown in southern side. Cows conveniently avoided the area and startedgrazing the grasses in the other areas. Within the compound also, my ex- LANhad overgrown with grasses. I started calling my working staff. Three of themcould not come before Onam to clean, since engage with contractors. The fourthagreed to come, but his phone not getting later. However his phone wasavailable on Pooradam day. He had just come from Trichy. After sleep he came by2 PM and I could start the cleaning work, he worked very quick and completed by6 PM. He came with his ownpowrah and cutting knife, pickaxe and large scissors from home. Most workersbring their own powrah and cutting knife. Onam and upakarma celebrations are over, I thought I may write about powrahand pick axe today. No very informative items in the posting other than somenostalgic and petty items. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan24-8-2021 1. Difference in handle length of powrah Basic differencebetween powrah between Tamilnadu and Kerala is in the handle’s length. InKerala handle length is three or four times more than in Tamilnadu. I havewondered how workers from Tamilnadu so quickly got accustomed to the lengthyhandle of Kerala powrah. Nowadays powrah with small length is brought byTamilnadu workers to Kerala. North Indian workers are not at all bothered abouthandle length. They can use all types. 2. Weight of powrah. In Tamilnadu we getpowrah of three types. First one is with more weight used by workers dealingwith RCC work. They use it to transfer granite Jally, cement, sand etc. totransfer and mix. The one with mediumweight is used for normal works like taking soil, removing grass and weeds, andeven cutting small bushes. The third onecalled garden powrah, is very small, perhaps intended for householder to removegrowing weeds. About 300 grams weight only. Handles using aracanut external woodis not in Tamilnadu. 3. Welcoming Mahabali I have seen in myboyhood days all homes at least cleaning the front of the home before Onam. Inlarge compounds, front area is well cleaned. Myfather himself used to clean the front and sides of samooha matam. Once in my middleschool days, I was standing by the side of father cleaning grasses in front ofsamoohamatam. The secretary, very young comparing to my father’s age, came andgave some suggestion to my father. Father was exhausted and I was there takingcoffee to him. He again started corrections. My patience lost. I asked him- Youare young comparing to my father. It is a social service. Why can’t you do? My father isnot your servant. Both president and secretary can do the work. My father regrettedto my raising voice and stopped my talking more. It became a big issue. To cut short,I had to go and take excuse, for which I initially resisted, but later agreed. On asking excuse thesecretary said, becausehe was in new clothes, he gave suggestionsto uncle (my father). Or else he would have done the work. Not commanding myfather. When my mother asked what happened, I told his reply-with an addition, if it was new clothes he could wash. >From that incident,a worker was made to clean front and sides of samooha >matam, relieving myfather from the work. Still father said- You are too small, >you should not talkto an elder like that. I too later felt I was wrong on >using strong words toan elder person. 4. Powrah- Symbol in elections Powrah and pickaxeare symbols in election allotted to candidates. Depending on the state a farmerholding powrah also can be symbol. 5. Labour week. During my middle schooldays, both in middle school and high school, labour week was there as part of curriculum. Students had totake powrah, pickaxe, Koonthali, knife cutting trees branches, coconut brooms,cobweb stick, baskets, winnower etc. The entire week, teachers guided students for physical worksand cleaning.Girl students were mostly deployed for cleaning cobweb, carrying things,cleaning class room, washing etc. jobs. Nostalgic memories of boys half tuckingdhoti and girl students working slightly raising and tucking skirts still comesto me. Even when while Iwas working in training centre during 1991’s for trainees it was compulsory for three weeks Saturday andSunday labour in the morning , in the training centre gardens and compounds.All working tools were arranged by training centre, for major works out sidelabour also arranged. For attendance and working efficiency marks were awarded.Marks decided seniorityof trainees. 6. Garden maintenance and marks In all telecominstallations it is compulsory to have gardens. Rather than beauty, large treeslike Asoka were preferred more, if possible. Well growing bushes alsopreferred. In the entrance somehow small plants like roses are preferred. The aim of growing plants is/wasto prevent dust, number 1 enemy of telecom equipment. This is evenwith electronic equipment now. Ifone has observed, in land line phone and modem, if the wires are removed dust removedby blowing (even by mouth) and put back, noise would be removed, modem worksfaster. Even in the mouse, if dirt is removed from the bottom legs, mouse wouldwork more efficiently. 7. Pick axe. Pickaxe large size are used for digging/ removing hard soil. Medium ones are usedto plant seedlings taking pits. Smaller ones used in the paddy fields can beused to remove weeds. 8. Growing garden Theidea to grow garden in my home came to me after visiting many gardens intelephone exchanges and in training centre, well using the available space. Asage advanced now 95% cleaning is done by labourers. Posted by R. Gopala Krishnan on 24-8-21 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/777067122.200343.1629797900377%40mail.yahoo.com.
