Avial Full of Thoughts

Something about avial first…

Traditionally a mix of at least 7 vegetables typical to the Indian peninsula, meant to signify prosperity and abundance, Avial is my favourite Mallu food. Yes, even the non-Mallu majority of South Indians “prepare” something called avial, with subtle variations from one region to another, but the Mallu avial is the one that I’m in love with. Each bite sends exploding plumes of coconut and its typical fragrance shivering down your taste buds. The veggies, having completely absorbed the flavor of the delicate spices, just melt in your mouth… sigh… It’s heaven for this pseudo - Mallu’s taste buds: D

A sufficiently authentic recipe for this delicacy with snapshots that will make your mouth water:

Avial recipe

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. Avial of thoughts. I always like to trace the roots of my thoughts. To know what triggered the writer in me. This time round, it’s not the smashing avial I ate last week at dear old Granny’s place. It is, hold your breath, the Mallu Metal Movement, also christened as Lungi Rock that inspired this one. AVIAL is a Mallu rock band that, quite recently shot to fame, not only in Kerala, but the country in general, not only in India, but the world in general. A unique blend of Metallica (bow to the gods) and their thrash metal, riffs reminiscent of Paki rock band Raeth, imagery that reminds you immediately of nothing but God’s own country and Mallu folk music, with matching vocals to boot; Avial sure lives upto its name. Incidentally, ‘nada nada’ and ‘adupambe’ are my personal favourites, thanks to the lyrics and powerful bass work.

Avial the Band on MySpace

Moving over alternative folk rock, let’s move onwards to the hillock of reason. Avial, I realized, is the perfect metaphor to describe the human mind. Every cook’s avial tastes and looks different, yet avial is avial. At any given point, a mouthful of avial contains at least three different veggies, just like the human RAM, that can actually remember a maximum of three or four things at a time. The vegetables themselves, like thoughts, have their own unique texture and flavor. They sometimes disintegrate and contribute their own bit to the status of the avial, while retaining their own individuality. Choice of vegetables for your avial can be as varied as the different schools of thought the mind subscribes to, depending on your appetite. The coconut is what binds together the avial, like intelligence that conditions your thoughts. (Yes, the same coconut that grows in abundance in Kerala! Hehe)

Conclusion:

• The mind is an avial.
• I love avial.
• Invite me over when you make avial at your place.