Slick like Oil (standard:non fiction, 1337 words)
Author: Juggernaut	Added: Jul 08 2013	Views/Reads: 2691/2009	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A story of woman vendor that made house calls to sell vegetable oils.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story


and the oval shaped white metal vessel on his head using the other 

hand to hold it firmly on his head. That was a great balancing act to 

walk miles to make house visits to sell oil. 

Narasamma measured oil using tin measuring cups. Juggernaut 

loved the way she used wooden ladles of different sizes to dispense 

oil from different sections of the vessel to the measuring cups. On 

every visit, Narasamma made the same inquiry “what grade you were in?” 

and Juggernaut replied with same answer.  Perhaps, she doesn't know 

what else to say beyond that to a young person. 

The most important part of the oil vessel was a small 

compartment attached to the outside wall of the vessel to store shiny 

metal coins for cash transactions.  To keep the paper currency safe, 

she kept them in a thick cloth pouch with its mouth closed by pull of 

a string. She pushed the currency pouch between her waist and the 

coarse cotton sari she wore. 

Narasamma was very common name in South India but the prefix 

Appala was very parochial; Appa or Appala was a short name for of the 

deity in a famous temple in town, an incarnation of god Vishnu. As per 

Hindu mythology, God Vishnu incarnate on earth as half lion and half 

human to kill an evil king; on completing his mission on the earth he 

transforms into a deity for people to worship him in a temple forever. 

The devotees address him affectionately with a nickname Appa or 

Appala. This became very popular prefix to names in the local area. 

Narasamma wore her wealth; two large gold rings, one each side of her 

nose and another hanging from the nasal septum occupying her upper lip 

at the center, her both ears were pierced in series from top to bottom 

with gold and precious stone jewelry. On both ankles, she wore gold 

colored metal bracelets as thick as donuts more look like GPS anchor 

bracelet worn by parolees. Her both hands from elbow to the wrist were 

covered with metal bangles. Narasamma belongs to a special caste of 

people in Hindu society that specialize in vegetable oil trade. Her 

family operated large seed oil extracting press in town. The cylinder 

presses to extract oil from seeds were powered by a blind folded ox 

walking slowly in circle with a wooden beam on its yoke connected to 

the cylinder presses at the center, on top of which a man sitting 

continuously fed the press with seeds. The extracted oil flow slowly 

to an underneath pan.  This was well before the advent of mechanical 

mills which took the family business from the specific caste members 

to anybody that can afford to own a mechanized mill. 

Making house visits in town to sell oil was part of their 

family business; Narasamma's borther operated a big store on the 

market road where customers come to buy all kinds of vegetable oils 

and seed meal. Seed material left after oil was extracted was called 

meal. Sesame seed meal is edible and people bought to use in cooking 

for its aroma and texture whereas peanut meal was mostly used as 

animal feed. 

Juggernaut on his way to school sometimes saw Narasamma 

helping his brother at the counter. Her brother was also fair skinned 

with very dark mustache and thick hair. The animal drawn oil mill was 

located behind the store. 

After dispensing oil to all her customers, any traces of oil 

left on her hand, Narasamma rubbed on to her face, hands and legs. 

Veeriah did the same as if it was following a ritual.  No wonder, 

their bodies were always greasy and shining from repeated oil 

applications. 

One day, Juggernaut's mother ran out of peanut oil in 

the middle of the week because of unexpected family guests so she 

asked Juggernaut to fetch peanut oil from Narasamma store at the 

market.  On reaching at the store, juggernaut saw few customers 

waiting to be served at the counter, both Narasamma and her brother 

were busy attending the customers and Veeriah was helping them in the 

background.  After waiting patiently for some time, when Juggernaut's 

turn came, Narasamma continued to ignore Juggernaut for a while before 

attending to him. She completed the transaction as if she did not 

recognize him. Juggernaut was surprised for her indifference knowing 

her to be very friendly whenever she makes house calls to his 

house, “perhaps she was showing off at her store,” thought Juggernaut. 

On the way back walking with a small can of oil, he decided to ignore 

her as a tit for tat tactic when she comes to visit them next Sunday. 

As usual, Narasamma came with porter to Juggernaut's house the 

next Sunday afternoon; she was all smiles and friendly making 

inquiries on well being of the tenants. Juggernaut resisted the 

temptation of sitting next to her on the floor near the oil vessel 

because of her indifference to him when he visited her at the store 

but couldn't resist for too long so he squat near the oil vessel to 

observe her oil dispending techniques and open the lid to see shiny 

coins in the small pocket on the vessel. The curiosity for watching 

her dispensing oil got better of his disappointment for her 

indifference at the store. Looking back at the events after several 

decades, Juggernaut thinks that Narasamma was all superficial like oil 

slick. 


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