Who is thinking of me?? – A folktale

Long long ago, there lived two friends, Raman and Kuppan, in a village in Tamil Nadu. They were friends from their childhood and both of them were now farmers, having their own lands in the village. Every morning Raman and Kuppan used to go to the fields together for their work. During lunch time, their wives would send food through a servant and Raman and Kuppan ate together.

One day while they were eating lunch, Raman started coughing. “Ahuh ahuh..” he went on. Kuppan offered him water but Raman’s cough did not stop so easily. Despite that, Raman was smiling, beaming with pride.

Coughing away, he said to Kuppan, “Ahuh ahuh ! Do you know why I am coughing?”

A puzzled Kuppan shook his head. “No” he said. “Why ?”

“My wife is remembering me. And only when someone remembers you, you cough while eating..  Ahuh ahuh.. She is so very fond  of me  Ahuh ahuh  ahuh , that see, even now Ahuh ahuh, my cough is not stopping…”

Kuppan knew that this was called “Purai Yerudal”.* The cough was caused due to food particles entering the wind-pipe when eaten fast. But Kuppan’s mind did not see this reason. Instead he felt very bad. “Raman is lucky to have a loving wife who is always thinking of him. Hmm… My wife does not even seem to think of me after I leave the house in the mornings …” he thought to himself.  “I will give her a bit of my mind today… Hmph!” he said to himself.

In the evening Kuppan went home in the same angry mood. “What happened?” asked  his wife. “Is all well at work? The lunch was good and sumptuous, was it not?”

“Oh! You are so concerned is it? If so, why did you not even think of me during lunch time huh?” he said raising his voice.

His wife could not understand what he meant to say and stared at him with a blank look.

“Look!  Raman’s wife kept on thinking about him today during lunch time, that he was coughing continuously while eating. You know how proudly Raman was telling me about her fondness? And look at me… Slogging all day long and you don’t even think of me after  I get out of the house in the morning…” Kuppan went on and on.

Kuppan’s wife understood the cause of Kuppan’s outpouring. With a smile, she said, “Oh! is that the reason? You know what, I had woken up very early this morning and so had a good nap during your lunch time. And that is why I could not think of you my dear!”

When she said this in a sweet voice, Kuppan’s anger vanished. How had he not thought of this? “Oh! Ok ok” he said. “I did not realise that. Remember me tomorrow during lunch time.  Ok?”

“Sure dear!” said his wife nodding her head coyly.

The next day Kuppan’s wife made Tamarind rice for his lunch. She added five extra chillies and omitted adding salt. Instead of the usual curds, she kept some chips seasoned with chilli powder.

When Raman and Kuppan started eating , Kuppan started coughing with the first mouthful itself.

“Ahu.. ahuh… ahuhuh…  ahuh… ahuh…” he went on and on, scrambling for water. And he drank the water so fast that he almost choked and coughed even more. “ Ahuhuhuh.. huhuhuh… ahem… ahuhuh …”

Raman was terrified. “Hey what happened Kuppa? Are you okay?” he asked.

His cough somewhat subsiding Kuppan said, “Ahuhuh… I am okay. My wife is so fond of me that I think… ahuhuh … she is continuously thinking of me ahuhuh…”

“Oh! Ok” said Raman, believing what Kuppan said.

When Kuppan went home in the evening he called his wife. “Wife!” he said. “I think you remembered me too much in the afternoon. From tomorrow, it is okay even if you do not think of me during lunch  he…he… he…” he said with a stupid grin on his face.

Kuppan’s wife smiled to herself. Her ploy had worked after all!!

*Purai Yerudhal is the term in Tamil Language used for describing choking with food particles.

Note: In Tamil Nadu, it is believed that if you start coughing while eating, someone dear to you is thinking of you.