Candy Grandpa Of Madurai Continues To Cater Traditional Javvu Mittai

Madurai: He is a familiar sight in the bylanes of Madurai, someone whose loud sales pitch — "javvu mittai, javvu mittai" — immediately alerts children in the neighbourhood to rush out of homes. Now 85, Karuppa, fondly called ‘Candy Grandpa’, continues to carry on his shoulder the sweet tradition of taffy that has been largely replaced by mass produced candies.

He lives near the Karuppa Swamy Temple in Vikramangalam area of Madurai, and has been selling candy since he was 15 years old. He is perhaps among the last ones who continue with the vocation.

On seeing him, one can recall the past when elderly people used to sell candy at village festivals, markets, temples and schools, while carrying bamboo poles with a mound of candy wrapped around it, and hand-clappers to advertise their arrival.

Karuppu carries the responsibility of his family on his shoulders by selling handmade taffy to school children daily. He earns Rs 300 on average, while cycling for about 35 km daily. The candies he sold for 4-8 annas when he began, now come for Rs 5. Every day, Karuppa leaves his small shack in Vikramangalam at 9 am and returns home at 8 pm.

He can be seen chatting with children before he removes the plastic wrap tied around the candy on the bamboo pole to pull out gooey light red candy in a string. He makes a beautiful watch out of the candy and ties it on a child's wrist. Then he makes a ring out of it and puts it on their ring finger. He also makes a moustache out of the taffy and sticks one on his face.

"Appu... Nilakottai, Usilampatti, Thirumangalam, Madurai, Samayanallur, Paravai... I even go as far as Manamadurai to sell these candies. On average, I cycle 35 km a day. During temple festivals, I often stay for a few days in the towns,” he said. He says that with his wife Rasathi, he has raised his daughters, Uma and Muruguselvi, from what he has earned selling candy.

While he loves his two daughters, he refers to the taffy doll he held in his hand as his eldest one. “Without that, what will I live for? The one who feeds me today is this taffy doll. So I call it my eldest daughter," he said.

His customers still wait for him eagerly. Many old timers can be heard recalling, “I bought sweets from him when I was a little boy. He would tie them to my hand."

Thavamani from Tarapatti says, "I have been watching this man since I was a child. He has been selling sweets since I can remember. We would run after him to buy these sweets. Just seeing this clapping doll made us happy."

Another one, Karthik Raja from Keelapatti said, "We used to buy javvu mittai from him. Now my daughter also buys mittai from Aiyava.”

To make the candy, Karuppa boils sugar to a paste-like state and then he pours a little coconut oil into it, squeezes a lemon and once it becomes like jelly, adds a very small amount of rose powder for colour. Then he hangs it high on a wire and repeatedly pulls the candy before wrapping it in a plastic sheet. If he has to stay in some village or town for some days, he carries 5 kg to 10 kg of sugar and other ingredients with him to make sweets there.

"I have often seen him on his bicycle when I return home from work around midnight,” said Karthikraja while adding that the government should do something to help the old men like Karuppu who still sell traditional candy in Madurai.

“After them, no one will do this anymore. Therefore, the Tamil Nadu government should do something for them," he said.

Echoing his views, Arulanadu from Samayanallur said, "This is a homemade candy without any adulteration. The current generation does not know such things. Today, they eat chocolate and think this candy is disgusting. The old men who continue to sell this candy have been working for the last 40 to 50 years. I don't know if they will work for another five years. Therefore, the government should do something to help them.”

Despite his hearing capacity having declined, Karuppu continues to delight the children while trying to make ends meet for his family.