Mr. CK Chandrasekharan Nair, our Malayalam master at the Sainik School, Kazhakootam passed into the mist of time this morning. To quote a dear friend, "Death is an inevitable culmination to our mortal life but still when someone, who was part of our formative years and helped shape our future and destinies, breathes his last, it brings a lump to our throat".
CKC sir - as he was popularly known to all our school fellows - was all of 83 years. I'd called up Retheesh, his son and a junior schoolmate of mine, to offer my condolences on the passing away of his father. It was through him that I came to know that sir was afflicted with the 'Parkinson's Syndrome' towards his last years. The last three weeks, presumably, were really bad, in that, he'd to be fed through tubes and he'd lost his bearings, often throwing violent tantrums that were controlled with the administration of medicines. And over the last three days, he'd even stopped talking but as his son had recounted, his faculties were intact and he was able to recognise everybody till the very end.
Sir was close to my grandfather and because of that association, he had a soft corner for me though, I must hasten to add, that he played no favourites. He used to be greatly appreciative of my handwriting and I've never ever got a marking less than 51/2 and of course, 6 out of 10, which was his maximum if my memory serves me right.
A fund of knowledge, he made us like the Malayalam language with his very interesting ways of teaching punctuated with anecdotes, historical facts and stories. He could be a hard task master if one didn't rote the poems of the Malayalam reader that he gave us as homework. I missed his classes after class 8th as I was one among the higher Hindi batch though he'd continued to monitor my progress and provide the feedback to my folks, about which I came to know much later!
His pronunciation had come under our intense scrutiny and was the butt of our jokes and what I remember vividly,
even today is, 'Saavio George, Maathew George, baank(bank), paak(the ubiquitous betel nut, added just for emphasis and to give the rhyming effect, I suppose), chaak(gunny bag, again for the same reasons cited for the betel nut), taank(tank)' among the many that came out of our mischievous minds those days.
A unparallel fund of knowledge and I don't think that they make them teachers like him anymore.
RIP, sir. My tears and prayers for a great teacher under whose tutelage I'd the privilege to be brought up during my formative years. May god give strength to his near and dear ones to tide over these stressful times.
Tailpiece.
Suddenly the feeling, that the ones that are close to you are leaving you, makes you disoriented and sad. Every parting induces a certain amount of death deep within which, I suppose, gets to be wholesome at the time of your ultimate departure!
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