The stones of my ancient home at Kerala

Recently I took a trip to Varapuzha, where my ancestral home stood. I got into the woods adjacent to my home and found these stones which served us as grinders before the electric grinding machines replaced them. They ground the masalas well. If there are any guests at home, then it was a kind of festive mode at the work area, adjacent to the kitchen. While the village belles operated these griders, the lady of the house supervised them, and the stage was ripe with jokes and gossips about the village folks. It was fun. That was  great social networking. Normally the menu comprised of sea (river) food, chicken, beef, pork and rice, all done in the local way. The chemmeen ularthiyathu (local preparation with coconut), karimeen fry, pork with chena, fish curry, chala (mathy) varuthathu, crabs are mouth watering. Thanks to these stones and those village belles who made all these...and of course to the muthalalathi (lady of the house), who supervised everything to perfection, from shopping to serving...