Bridegroom And His Welts
Veeraswamy Krishnaraj

Proverbs originated long ago in Tamil Nadu, which were told and retold to children generation after generation. Here is the story, wherein our hero was beaten with a stick and developed huge welts that resembled Kozukkattai in the 2nd figure below.

Figure1. Flat cake. Figure 2. Fat Kozukkattai. www.awesomecuisine.com

Victuals made during celebration and for guests

       The Kozukkatai story.

A recently married young man went to his in-laws’ house. They invited him with smiles, perfumes, and kum-kum. The mother-in-law made delectable Kozukkattai, which he relished. A few days later he returned home. On the way, he kept on repeating the name of the preparation lest he would forget: Kozukkatai  = Rice dumpling enclosing coconut, jaggery...  

There was a downpour, there were rivulets, people were jumping across the streams saying Attari-bachha. Our hero also said Attari-baccha and forgot the name of the comestible (Kozukkattai) that he savored before.  He kept on chanting Attari-baccha until he reached home.

He asked his wife to make Attari-baccha for him. She dismissed him saying there was no such victual called Attari-baccha.

Frustrated, he went to a sweetmeat shop and asked for Attari-baccha. Thinking that the young man was making fun of him, the shopkeeper beat him up with a stick. It was the same stick he used to beat the stray street cows which came to forage for his sweets. He went home. His wife saw the big welts and asked him where he got the Kozukkattai welts.

That rang a bell in his head. Now our hero recalled the name and told his wife he wanted to savor the Kozukkattai. It just happened it was the day of celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi in August or September every year. The festival is celebrated with Kozukkattais...Bridegroom And His Welts Veerasw

(A modak or Kozukkattai is  a dumpling made from rice or wheat flour, stuffed with grated coconut, jaggery, dried fruits and other condiments and steamed or fried. Wikipedia.)

The Proverb.

377. அடி அதிரசம், குத்து கொழுக்கட்டை.

A thrashing is a sweetmeat, and a cuff is a cake.

அதிரசம். A kind of flat sweet cake. கொழுக்கட்டை kozu-k-kattai ,  Bolus-like preparation of rice flour usually with coconut scrapings, sugar, etc.

When a person is hit with a flat object (Spatula), he develops flat raised weal on the skin that looks like Flat Cake. If he is punched or hit with a stick, he develops huge welts that looked like  Kozukkattai.  Atirasam is flat preparation. Kolukkattai is a bolus with imprint of phalanges of the fist. Krishnaraj