Aparna stood near the padippura leading to the front yard. She was gazing intently at the huge mango tree. She always admired the fruit laden tree. How she loved to pelt stones at the branches in an effort to make some fruit fall! Then appooppan would bring the big thotti to help his first granddaughter pluck some fruit. She would look in awe at the tender mango leaves turn from light pink to rusty red to green as they mature. The evenings would be fragrant with the smell of the mango flowers. Oh, they are so divine-they look like the jasmine and smell like the lily.

Archana looked on to taste her favourite muringa ada that ammoomma had made. How delicious! She quietly ran outside to get a quick glimpse of the muringa tree. She remembered how much she had cried that day when the tree cutter came to cut the tree. It wasn’t considered appropriate to have a muringa tree in the front yard. All her pleadings and entreaties made the tree cutter tell appooppan: ‘Saare, I can’t bear to see this child cry. It is OK even if I don’t make money today. Let the child be happy’ and went away.

Arathi loved jasmine flowers. She plucked the flowers in the evening just a little before sandhya. Ammoomma would patiently string the flowers. She would then oil her grand daughter’s hair, braid it neatly and tuck a long string of the jasmine flowers to make it beautiful. Arathi would go to bed with the flowers on her hair and wake up in the morning, her whole bed smelling of jasmine. She looked at the mulla thara (jasmine bed) and recollected her horror that day when she had spotted a snake coiled under the creeper. Her loud shouts brought the neighbourhood boys, who chased it away since it was only a harmless cherai.

Appooppan was collecting all the tamarind pods that had fallen on the ground. He was a big defender of greenery. The tamarind tree in the back yard slants over the big open well. The tamarind pods would fall into the water, making the water taste brackish. Everyone wanted the tree to be cut down to save the well. But appooppan had an expensive (really expensive) mesh built around the well to prevent the tamarind from falling into the well. He had saved both the tree and the well.