PETTI- BOX Dear friends,
Two recent incidents made me to write about Box today. One – Three days back I purchased a new MI TV. The engineer (not technician)installed TV in the hall. I desired to install the Samsung LED TV availablein my room. He asked me- Where are the screws kept in Samsung TV hard board Box tokeep it on stand? In the hall it was suspended on a frame work. TVpurchased in 2009. Where can I get the old screws? Finally he said he willsearch for the type of screws. Still the TV has not been installed. Second one- I went to my familiar shop to purchase one morelaptop. I feel not secured with one, purchased about nine months back. I wanteda low cost one. He replied two laptops of the same types have come withdifference in Key board. Both would of the same size. He asked the staff tobring it. He brought a hardboard box. The prize waseight thousand rupees less than the one I am having. I brought it paying 1/3rd amount and remaining in next two months.When I asked for bag he replied- sir, now all lap top comes in Hardboard box. I have written the above for wider use of hard board box for thesophisticated instruments now. Within compartments, not so visibleall accessories like power cable, mouse, booklet etc. are kept. Let me continue with my box story. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan 16-6-2021 1. Nampoothiri andbox. An incident occurred before decades. Nampoothiriwanted to go Anananthapuri from Kilimanoor. He was going to give some money toa party. Nampoothiri kept the money well packed in the kaipetti(Wooden box to the appearance of today’s brief case). Nampoothiri felt he cango after the meals. It was about 1 PM. Karyasthan was holding the box. Buscame. Nampoothiri and Karyasthan got in to the bus. Nampoothiri sat on acomfortable window seat. Karysthan Sankaran sat three seats behind. Nampoothiri thought,it would be better to have the box with him. Karyasthan said- ran, jnan piticholam. Nampoothirisaid, venda, venda. Ingottu thannolu (Give the box to me). Nampoothiri had thepan, with afternoon wind hegot in to sleep. Ensuring he fell in to deep sleep, one thief in thebus looked at Karyasthan. Since the box had gone from his hand, he also fell into sleep. Slowly the box was pulled by the thief without the knowledge of anyone, sat for some more time and got down in the next stop. Reached Ananathapuri. Nampoothiri found the box missing. Karyasthan said- Eran-Petti poyallao, enthu cheyyum? (Whatwe would do, box has money and lost?) Nampoothirilaughed and replied- Kosava, itha nokku, thakkol entekayyilallae, showing his upaveetham. Key was tied toit. (How he could open thebox? He should come to me. Why should we fear?) 2 ThiruvabharanamCharthi vitarum… Thiruvabharam to adorn Sabarimalai sastha on Makara samkranthi day issent from my home royal palace till date. Due to aging the box was damaged andreplaced with a new one in teak wood to the same size and shape. Another set of Thiruvabharam is sent from AranmulaParthasarathy temple on Mandalamday. This is also wooden box approximately to the same from Pandalam,my home, but ornaments are different. 3. Kalpetti A wooden box having four legs is called Kalpetti. Onthose days most boxes were made of jack wood tree in Kerala. The small Pettikkada(panshops) on those days were made similar to large Kalpetti in wood includingroofing. Except in rural villages Pettikata has disappeared. I have read elsewhere in New Delhi the documentwriters sit in small rooms smaller than these Pettikada. 4. Trunk Box About five decades back the bride used to bring allher belongings in a trunk box, made of tin sheet and painted. The box broughtby my wife is still there, keeping some pictures in store room. Periodicallythe box is painted and kept. When I got my appointment first as a High schoolteacher, I landed at Trikkariyurwith a trunk box. For reasons best known to almighty one teacher of the schoolwas in bus stand and he took me and accommodated in a room above the postofficer. Trikkariyur has a specialty that the last Lord Siva consecrated byLord Parasurama is at Trikkariyur. There is an idol of sage Parasuramabefore the temple. Trunk Box continued with Bachelors to keep their itemsin lodges. On those days monthly lodges were not furnished like today. Laterthe boxes started appearing in plywood with PVC covering. They were of lesserweight, but could be breaking open. 5 Molded Boxes. Replacing trunk box and plywood box, molded boxappeared. But after a few years or on falling, they could break. In short ifkey was lost it could be opened by breaking easily 7 Fibre box Now fiber boxes are there lightweight, tough to breakopen, number key, handle which can be extended on breadth side, wheels fournumbers, one handle on the length side. In modern homes brief cases after tourare kept in loft. 8 Brief cases Brief cases for tour and office going are small boxes.Before two decades onecannot see an officer goer without brief case. Now brief cases areused mostly to keep important things in home. They have got replacement with fiber/pvcbags now. They are also having weight, but lesser than briefcase. 9 Ara and woodenbox Those homes having Ara, being Nalukettu, or in theimportant room, large wooden boxes were placed and important things were keptinside. These large wooden boxes are still preserved in Brahmins andNampoothiri homes. Sacred Grandhams are kept in these boxes. 10 Temples andwooden boxes Wooden boxes are largely used in temple offices.Important silver, gold items etc. arekept in them. I recently got a Pudukkottai aracasu, kept in such box, paying prescribedcharges from brahadambal temple. My last posting as JE was in Pudukkottai It wasissued under receipt and with all details. 11. Train travel On those days if seats are not available passengersused to keep the trunk box and seat over it. My maiden journey to Chennai waslike that from Ernakulam. My journey to Trivandrum training center in 1991 wasalso with a large fibre box and smaller briefcase. I was posted after interviewby directorate GMs andKerala GM satisfied with the knowledge to teach in training centers. The training centers were upgraded to similar to IAS coaching centers with 50% pay as teaching allowance. >From high competition I was one of the selected. This is to clarifysome >member’s response regarding training center postings. 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