My father insisted that I should go to his shop in the market road during Saturdays and holidays so that he could teach me. He talked to me in English and tried to pour all the knowledge he had acquired on me during these visits. He taught so loudly that the other shopkeepers, bystanders, consumers, customers and traders could listen. Few street food vendors pushing their barrows and ringing a bell moved around. The food was fresh, flavorful, and affordable and delivered indoors. One vendor was selling cold passion fruit drink, which was my favorite under the scorching sun. The juice and seeds were separated from the passion fruit, mixed in water with lemon juice and sugar and the water was kept in an earthen pot to keep it cool. Water stored in such pots were about fourteen degrees Celsius and had a refreshing flavor. Capillary action causes water to seep and evaporate from the mini pores in the pot, taking the heat from the water inside thus making the water cooler. My father used to buy this drink for me after the brainstorm lesson. Wednesdays and Saturdays were the Changanasserry 'market days' from ancient times.

In those days all types of perishable food items such as vegetables and fruits were brought to the market by the agricultural farmers carrying them on their head, each bag weighing more than 50 kg. Those farmers had to walk a distance of more than 5 km from their farms to reach the market. Since there were no cold storage facility availability, their harvest had to be brought to the market on a weekly basis. By the time they reached the market, their neck would have shortened by compressive strain. The only other means of transportation was bullock cart which was 'expensive' for a small scale farmer. Princely rulers had erected Chumaduthangi (headload rests) on the roadside for the use of headload workers. These structures were made of granite stones, two supporting stones of about 5 feet high and another stone of about 7 feet length laid over it. There was one such structure at Madhumoola in Vazhappally. On my way from my house to the market, there was a Nampoothiri Illam (house) called kizhakke madam. There was a big stone jar in front of the Illam. Every Wednesday and Saturday the house owner filled the jar with buttermilk (yogurt mixed with water, salt, curry leaves, onion, green pepper and ginger) and a mug made of the arecanut palm leaf was kept by the side of it. This was a free refreshing drink for the headload workers, an act of human kindness from an Illam.