‘Rice water is the suspension of starch obtained by draining boiled rice or by boiling rice until it completely dissolves
into the water.’
Rice water, yes its our own
‘Kanji vellam’. Its our life drops, linked with the love of our dear ones. Kanji vellam has some etched images in every
Keralites mind.
‘Uppitta Kanjivellam’ is a must for our mild diseases. My father who is an adamant fan of Kanji
always tell me about the nutrition of kanji and its suppliments. In my mind it has the firmness of my father’s
hand and coolness of his smile. I like
to drink this with some salt in it.
Whenever I refuses to drink this water without any sweet or spicy taste
he makes it more acceptable with few drops of ‘Pulissery’ or ‘Rasam’.
Life had changed a lot and now I insist my children to drink this
precious water during sick days and I
have to search Web to convince its nutritious benefits.
‘Mole ithiri
Kanjivellam’ the most familiar tone
of my childhood memories. Its thanka ammoomma who was the helping hand
of my mother. After lot of works she
will come to the kitchen door and asked for a large bowl of Kanji vellam. I will watch their with great eagerness to
see the way she drink the water with great respect and relief. This water remembers me the labourious days
of ‘Thanka ammomma’ .
Its our practice to starch
cotton clothes with this water. It has
the shades of lines and lines of cotton sarees spread across the neighbouring
yard. During rainy days clothes drained
in Kanjivellam will have a bad smell.
Still munching my mother’s rules for clothes in these water. We have to remove the ‘Kanji pada’ first and then remove any rice remained in
the vessel. Still I am continuing the
practice with my cotton churidars.
I had read lot of stories
related with this kanjivellam in Malayalam literature. Some books also make some images in our
mind. An autobiography written by Sri
Mannathu Padmanabhan he had described the Kanjivellam and countable number or
rice in it. He had got this during his
journey towards to make educational institutions for his society. In my mind I consider this water with great
devotion given energy to a great man with great aspirations.
My grand mother was also a
great devotee of kanji vellam. She had
topped up this ‘Kadumanga curry’ or
‘Uppumanga vellam’ or some butter milk. She had told me about its importance in
summer days for those in working under the scorching sun.
