A day in the early 1960s at Vazhappally. The early morning was very calm and quiet. It was 5.30 am and devotional songs from the Annapoorneshwari temple near my house started playing. Cocks started crowing from the back yard. People were waking up at the melody of the songs. The birds start chirping in the trees. The gentle cool breeze started blowing. The newspaper boy was moving on a bicycle, throwing the newspaper to each compound. Women were drawing water from the wells using a pulley and bucket and the screeching sound from the pulley filled the air. It was 6.00 am and the siren from the Ruby Rubber factory was blown out for the workers to start the first shift of the day's work. There were hardly any vehicles on the road. The roads were not tarmacked. A milker was moving to some houses where they raised the cows, to milk them by hand. They supplied milk to other houses. Some Christians walked to the church to attend the holy mass at 6.30 am and some Hindus were moving to the pond to take a dip and then to the temple for devotions. Few people were sitting at tea shops drinking tea and reading newspapers. The sun's rays were penetrating through the sky. The dawn broke into a beautiful sunrise. Workers and laborers could be seen moving to their destinations. Fishmongers were carrying fish on their bicycles and delivering to the houses. Women had started a day's household work. By 9.00 am students were seen walking to schools carrying their bags. That was the way of life half a century ago.

My neighbors were mostly Hindus. They observed the Kollam Era and Malayalam calendar for all auspicious occasions. They believed in astrology, horoscope, omens, superstitions, charms, evil eye, and fortune telling and Rahu Kalam (a certain period of time every day that is considered inauspicious for any new venture). Our cultures were so much integrated that we also shared their observations and way of life. There was no religious barrier for these beliefs. Most of the people tried to see a good omen to start a day or a journey. Some of the good omens were lamps, milk, cow, pots filled with water, a virgin, ripe fruits and fish. Some of the bad omens were a broom, barber and washerman, lame and blind man, a cat crossing the path, a broken vessel, and widow. Sneezing once is a good sign; twice a bad sign. The arrival of a guest is foretold by a crow sitting on a banana plant facing east and crowing. Evil is foreshadowed, if a light goes out during a ceremony. The Hindus observed the beginning of a new month or year in Malayalam calendar with great piety. It is believed that a family's prosperity for that month or year depends upon the nature or auspicious of the first thing that he sees or the first person who enters into his house on this particular morning. Some of the neighbors urged me to visit their houses early in the morning of the first day of every month before anybody enters into their compound. They had reminded me to enter their houses without any slippers. I used to visit their houses by 6.00 am and they used to give me a piece of coconut with jaggery as 'prasadam'