Best in doing Navaratri's favourite snack? Name her Sundal Choodamani

That sundal, the Navaratri-centric snack, distributed in small compact paper packets to visitors kept us we five, Babu, Jagan, Rangu, Pachcha and myself, the five member Sundal Brigade  busy, may sound flippant but indeed, it was  true.  

The festival of dolls kicked off from the new moon day, called Mahalaya Amavasya, The brigade's one point agenda  was  to visit the households to collect sundals of that evening, taste and rate them to adjudge the best of the season to confer the title Sundal Choodamani to the mami who had put together the  sundal par excellence.

The brigade was bound by inflexible rules. First and foremost, the participating households were identified, days of visits were earmarked and made with no prior alerts. It was impossible to taste all the sundals in a day. Agreed all of us were in early teens, having wolves in our stomachs, but the brigade did not want any member to have stomach upsets and free flow.

There were strict rules. The ethereal beauty of the girl in silk paavadai and mealakku coupled with  her alluring voice heard during the  visit should not cloud our judgment and jack up the points even if the quality of their sundal was below par. On the flipside, when the sundal was delicious, points should not be axed if she were not one of  the best of Brahma's creations.

Like tea tasters, whose taste buds were sacrosanct, to grade the tea brew, the brigade members were not allowed to smoke or  chew, though none of us did and gorge during lunch; this we used to do. Their mouths were  to be taste-ready for sundal test.

It was customary for a lady of the house, to badger a mami having the vocal chords of a peacock having laryngitis  to do a song in front of the kolu. It is an irony those who can sing will refuse to sing and who cannot, will begin at once. If one could look sharp, sage Naradha, though  a  doll inthe kolu,  would raise his hands and close his ears, mumbling  Narayana! Narayana! The grumpy family head, irritated by such assaults on his cochlear, would have switched off all lights and bolted the door for the day. Yet, the brigade would not hesitate to knock on the door,  if that house was on call for sundal collection, never mind the fusillade of abuses from the woken up gent.

The brigade would meet in camera on the tenth day. Heated arguments would ensue. But ultimately, the best would be chosen and the lady who made it would be declared Sundal Choodamani of that year.  However, this honour will be kept under the wraps, as otherwise, the losers would unsportingly  drive the brigade out when they go out for collection next season.