“People always wonder if there’s something amiss in my life — a luxury house, jewellery, land, social status, etc. But I tell them that those all are secondary. The only thing I miss in life is not having my own children.

Nevertheless, I do have my grandnieces and grandnephews to love and take care of. They make me exceedingly happy. And believe me, I am their favourite granny – after all, I cook them the best Pindi Vantalu. It includes Murukulu, Garelu, Shakinalu, Bakshalu, Sarvapindi, and many more.

Back in our childhood, we used to trek in our village forests and collect firewood to cook the traditional dishes during the festive season. Dussehra used to be our festival for which our entire family would come together. We offer prayers to Goddess Durga Devatha who defeated Mahishasura. We would eagerly wait for the festival to meet all my cousins and relatives at one place. Since I belonged to Nalgonda District, we would also have Bathukamma during the Dussehra. All of us would dress up in traditional attires and participate in various activities. We used to eagerly wait to watch Paala pitta (Indian roller) on the Jammi tree after the procession.

Over the years, things have changed and I began to feel that life had taken a materialistic turn, where traditional practices were no longer followed by people. Nowadays, everything has become artificial including the flower decoration and also the readymade food items which are purchased from the sweet shops. It really bothers me a lot. Even the traditional Bathukamma songs which we used to sing vocally has now changed and people are dependent on loud DJ music. That’s certainly killing the true essence and culture of the festival. The responsibility lies on the youngsters to carry these traditions forward for the generations to come and l am trying my best to educate the youngsters to revive the long lost traditions.”