under the banyan tree....

The shade of the banyan tree in the village,

ആല്‍മരത്തണല്‍ 

Surely aalamarathadi is not the place to throw muck on all people ..

Aalamaram is the epicentre for so many purposes for different people. 

Ogres, and Pisasus can stay up the branches,

Snakes and birds can live there. 

Priests, and black magicians, sooth sayers and tricksters, all can occupy the shadow of the tree during daytime .

Ooru Panchayat the council of elders of the village can be conducted 

and

wandering aandis (mendicants, indigent nomads ) also would sleep there..

I am reminded of  the story of a rich chettiar(a person belonging to the trading community, noted for affluence) and thiruvazhithan sleeping under alamaram during a night in the course of their travel. 

The whole worldly possession of thiruvazhithan was an otta mukkal(a dime.. a copper coin with a round hole in the middle its worth would be about one and half paise) which he had secured to the hind tip of his kovanam.(loin cloth ) 

The chettiar had a lot of money with him. 

Both went to sleep under aala maram(banyan tree) after some small talk. 

A robber came along late in the night. 

He first woke up thiruvazhithan and asked the latter to hand over all he had. 

The otta mukkal (the dime)was dutifully handed over. 

The thief had not noted the presence of the chettiar till then. 

But he was just looking keenly to check the genuineness of the coin.

. Thiruvazhithan volunteered the information that the chettiar sleeping nearby was a rich trader and was expert on coins. 

He further advised that the robber could verify the genuineness of the coin with the subject expert. 

Now the robber became happily aware of the presence of the chettiar and without any delay the robber ensured that whatever money or valuable was in the possession of the chettiar just become the property of the burglar, of course iron fists had to be  used, again the banyan tree was the witness for all that....

So you can be a friend under the alamaram. 

You can be the heckler, or the devil or almost anything..

the alamarathati is thus a microcosm or miniature of the mindset of the occupants of the society or a group.