Nyaabagam Varuthe

Kambedutha Solli Adippen

And slowly things settled at the shop...

Kathir merely followed instructions from his brothers...just so they didn't have to be concerned about his health..

Saravana was good company at the shop...

Days rolled by and soon it was Pongal..

As was norm the family went to the thottathu veedu in order to celebrate pongal...

Kumaresan Maamaa: Lakshmi...intha vaatti oru potti vaippomaa..

L amma : enna pottinne..

Kum maamaa: 3 perum thani thaniya pongal veikkattum...yaaru pongal seekkiram pongutho...correct ah kizhakka paarthu pongutho...taste arumaiya irukko...avanga thaan jeyicha mathiri enna soldra...

L amma : enna anne ore pongala veikkartha vittuttu..ore kudumbathula ethanai pongal...

K maamaa : ada ithulla enna irukku Lakshmi...pasanga ellam irukkaanga...jolly ah irukkum ille...

L amma conceded...

Once the preparation started...

Moorthy started helping Dhanam..which was expected...

But everyone including Parvathy and Murugan were surprised when Kathir bustled around Mullai helping her set up..

Once the pot was placed and the fire was lit..he automatically went and fetched dry wood on seeing her wipe her eyes and kept humming the song 'Mappillai summa moraikkatha machaan sonna kelu'

The more he hummed the song the more it seemed to amuse the family..and slowly unable to contain themselves the family burst into snickers

Initially he thought it was because he was helping her in an obviously competitive way...but he later realised there was more to it and strangely he couldn't stop humming the song...he was completely tripping on it...

He sidled closer to Mullai...

Kathir: ippo enna dee...ellarum sirikkaraanga..

As he whispered he looked at her and realised she was struggling to control her laughter too..

And he automatically grinned

Kathir: etho nadanthu irukku...hmmm..intha paatta naan paadinena...yaara paarthu...enakku yaaru maappillai...Akash ah ?

The more he spoke the more Mullai struggled...and at one point she went off into peals of laughter....

Mullai: aiyo mudiyalainga..neenga intha yoogam mattum pannatheenga..ennaala suthama mudiyale..atheppudinga nera ethirla poi correct ah thappa yoogikkareenga..she giggled

Kathir : enakku ithu thevai thaan..thevai thaan..he smiled

Mullai: smiling fondly at him..neenga paadala..ungala paarthu paadinaanga...

Kathir : oh appudi..ritu...

The rest of the family only laughed harder at this...

All 3 ladies aided by their husbands became busy with the Pongal

But to everyone's surprise the contest ended in a draw

Dhanam with years of experience made the best tasting pongal..but finished last and her Pongal came out of the pot in all directions

Meena being a novice kept the flame really high and though her pongal came out of the pot first it was undercooked

Mullai's pongal came out in the right direction but a few minutes after Meena but taste wise she had used less sugar...so the pongal wasnt as sweet...